


An Unexpected Journey

by AbschaumNo1



Series: Hermitcraft Fantasy AU [2]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Found Family, Getting Together, Grief, Happy Ending, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Presumed character death, Royalty, Soulmates, Tango has braincells, We Die Like Men, Witchcraft, Witches, mentions of other hermits - Freeform, parts of this are unedited after first draft stage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:15:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 67,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22807717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbschaumNo1/pseuds/AbschaumNo1
Summary: Xisuma sends Tango to talk to a potential new Hermit. Neither of them expects the journey that follows.
Relationships: Evil Xisuma/Original Male Character, Impulse/Tango, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Stress/False, Welsknight/Zedaph
Series: Hermitcraft Fantasy AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1635238
Comments: 210
Kudos: 228





	1. A Deal With The Devil

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, hello, I really wanted to write the backstory for these two?? And then it grew lore and there was a lot of screaming by people who are not me involved.

He found the man at the market.

Tango had been looking for him for a while, but he had never turned up. Until today. It was a busy day, perhaps the busiest Tango had seen the city since he had arrived a week ago, and the streets were filled with people going about their business. The man he had been looking for had built up a small stand at the very edge of the market where he sold his wares. Tango would almost have missed it if he hadn’t been looking for it, but there he was, just like Xisuma had said.

Tango stood in the shadows of a narrow alleyway a little to the side of the stand and watched the man sell his dates and wheat, a cheerful smile on his face even as he haggled with his customers. He didn’t seem bothered by the heat of the sun burning down on them. On the contrary, he looked like he was right at home in the oasis.

Tango had done his homework. There had been everything Xisuma had found out already, which was mostly rumours and whispers from traders, and then he had done his best to find out more after he had arrived. It hadn’t been easy, but with the right questions asked and a few coins in the right hands he had gathered what he could.

The man’s name was Impulse. He lived on the other side of the oasis, away from the city, where he kept a small farm that mostly produced wheat and dates, and some pomegranates. He kept to himself mostly, Tango gathered, and he was seen as a bit of an oddball. There were whispers about him around town, and how he used magic to grow his crops. More than one person had asked Tango if he was going to take Impulse away, but Tango had only smiled mysteriously and shrugged.

It wasn’t much to go on, but it was a start, and right now Tango was trying to decide how to approach him. He had already figured out that Xisuma had sent him here on his own because he was the hermit who would have the easiest time disappearing into the crowd. Besides, Doc had been the only other hermit who could have gone, and his cybernetic limbs didn’t do well with sand. Tango on the other hand would fit right in, his looks betraying his heritage. This was djinn-country, and no one would look twice at yet another djinn. They didn't have to know that he wasn't full djinn, and possessed none of their magic, they only had to see his looks and assume. Everyone knew that the djinn guarded their territory with sharp eyes, and the rumours of magic were likely to draw them in to investigate.

Maybe a little too likely, he realised when hot wind brushed past him and he could hear light steps on the ground behind him.

"And what do we have here?" The voice was familiar and when Tango turned around he wasn't surprised to see a familiar face.

"Ramal," he said. "Long time no see."

"Tango. Odd seeing you in these parts."

Tango shrugged. "Just the way the wind carried me."

The djinn narrowed his eyes at him. "I don't think I believe that. You've been asking about someone. And I heard you have joined up with those humans. The Hermits or what is it they are called?"

Tango studied his face for a moment before he nodded. "You heard that right then."

Ramal looked past him towards Impulse and his stand. "You know, I have half a mind to let you have him. We'd have to deal with him sooner or later anyways."

Tango turned, watching Impulse as he smiled at a child and handed them a few dates. There was a beam of sunlight falling through the little roof of his stand hitting him just right and Tango quickly had to glance away again.

The djinn was watching him with a smirk on his face when he turned back to him but Tango ignored it.

"So what do you want? I know how this works, you won't do this without me doing something for you."

Ramal shrugged. "Go talk to him. If he agrees to go with you, bring him to meet me by the place they call the Djinn's Finger."

Before Tango could reply Ramal had whirled around and disappeared in another hot gust of air.

"Just another deal with the devil," Tango muttered to himself, as he looked out towards Impulse again. The man looked up to meet his eyes at just the right second, and Tango offered a smile before he shook his head and turned around, his own departure not quite as dramatic as that of the djinn before him.

Impulse was still rattled when he got home that evening. Ever since he had seen the djinn that afternoon, watching him from a dark side alley, his thoughts had been reeling. Had they finally decided to do something about him? Were the rumours catching up to him?

Still he had powered through and if his smile wasn't quite as bright as usual none of his usual customers commented on it.

But now he was home and he had nothing to distract himself. His crops were looked after, his farms were tended to; all that was left was pacing and trying to figure out what to do. He didn't want to leave. He liked the oasis. But if the djinn had decided he was worth looking into he would probably have to go and find a new place to live. Maybe he would be fine though, maybe it was just a warning to tell him that they were aware of him and watching but they weren't actually going to do anything about him. He was nervously wringing his hands when there suddenly was a knock on the door.

He took a deep breath and tried his best not to show his anxiety before he went and opened.

Outside stood the djinn he had seen that afternoon. Up close Impulse realised that he dark red cloak he was wearing was just a little too thick to be produced in the desert, and that there was a diamond sword hanging from this belt, the glittering of the enchantments on the blade barely visible at the edge of the sheath. Impulse blinked, he wasn't sure he had ever heard of djinn wearing diamond blades. Gold was usually more their style.

Questioning his eyes wandered upwards. The face looked exactly how people had described djinn to him though. Blonde hair, red eyes, pointy canines just visible where their lips lifted in what was a not unfriendly smile. But once again...not a speck of gold to be seen.

The eyes were perhaps the most striking though. He had heard the stories, had heard that djinn had red eyes, burning with fire and heat, but this one's eyes were more like the warm glow of a camp fire or a hearth. They were kind, and Impulse felt like he wanted to drown in them.

He swallowed, and took a deep breath to focus.

"What can I help you with?" he asked, doing his best to put his usual cheerfulness behind the words.

"Impulse? My name is Tango. Can I just...come in? There's something I would like to talk to you about."

Impulse considered him for a moment, but those eyes were still warm, and Tango didn't look like he was about to strike him down. With a nod he stepped to the side and gestured for him to come inside.

Tango took off his boots and his cloak and Impulse led him over to the seating area.

"Can I offer you anything?" He asked while Tango sank down onto the cushions.

"What do you have?"

"Tea and pomegranate seeds."

Tango considered the offer for a moment before he said, "That would be great, thanks."

Impulse nodded and quickly got the pot of tea from the stove in the corner, and grabbed the small bowl of pomegranate seeds he had already prepared for dinner before he had started his pacing earlier. He sat down both on the low table and sat down across from Tango.

Once he had poured tea for both of them he raised an eyebrow, and said, "So, why are you here?"

"I was sent by a friend. He wants me to offer you a place with us." Tango took a sip of his tea.

"And what would that entail?"

Tango looked at him, considering. "You know redstone, don't you? Because I've seen what you were selling earlier, and I've seen your crops outside, and I doubt that they produce enough for you to comfortably sell what you did today. And we...well we call ourselves the Hermits. Xisuma has set up an area for us in the Western Mountains where we can live in peace, without people trying to hunt us down for supposed magic."

"But why should I go with you? I'm already living here in peace. I keep my head down, I don't make a fuss. I like it here."

"Yes, you have." Tango nodded. "But the rumours are there. I've heard them. And I ran into someone earlier today who told me that the djinn may not have done anything yet, but they have their eyes on you and they are considering what to do with you."

"...someone told you that?" Impulse gave him a doubtful look. He didn't think people just ran around divulging information like that.

Tango sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"See this information came directly from a djinn; a djinn I know well enough to know he wouldn't lie to me. Besides," Tango paused. "He offered me a deal. He's willing to let you go if you decide to come with me. I'll still have to do something for him, but he'll let you go."

"And you want me to believe that it really is that easy?" Impulse raised an eyebrow. In his experience and from everything he had heard it was never this easy. Djinn were tricky on the best of days, and guys like Tango didn't run round striking up deals with them to help complete strangers.

Tango looked at him as if he was searching for something in his face, before he said gently, "It really is that easy sometimes. If X or his brother were here they would have done the same. Even if any if the other Hermits were here they would do the same. And you don't have to go with me, we can leave together, and split up later when we're out of their territory. I just don't think you deserve being dealt with by the djinn."

Tango got up, but before he walked to the door he knelt down close enough to put a hand on Impulse's shoulder. "I really mean you no harm, even if I look like one of them. So think about it. I'm staying at the caravanserais, just come find me when you have made a decision."

He was close enough now that he could see details in Tango's eyes, the red shifting ever so slightly, like tiny flames. There were specks of orange and even yellow in them, and Impulse had to force himself to look away and nod, before he leaned into the warmth of that gaze.

"I will," he managed to say, and Tango gave a nod of his own before he squeezed Impulse's shoulder and got up.

"I hope I'll see you soon," he called over his shoulder, leaving Impulse sit stunned into silence and trying to get his brain to function again, as he stared at the three kernels of pomegranate seeds Tango had left in his empty tea glass.

In the end the decision wasn't as hard as it had seemed when Tango had offered the choice. Impulse knew that the other people at the oasis were suspicious of him already, and if the djinn were considering what to do with him...Tango seemed like the best choice he had.

He spent the rest of the evening looking through his things and packing what he needed and didn't want to leave behind. It was easier than he thought. He didn't have a lot of sentimental possessions, and the rest of his things were organised well enough that he didn't have to go looking for the essentials. When he was done he fell into a fitful sleep.

He decided to leave his pack when he set out to talk to Tango the next morning. They surely weren't going to leave immediately. Besides, there was time to walk past Impulse's house before they left.

Tango was sitting on a step in the yard of the caravanserais, the elderly storyteller of the town next to him, and a gaggle of children at his feet. He was telling a story, one the story teller had quite obviously not heard yet, and everyone was listening with rapt attention as he talked. Impulse stopped in the gateway of the yard for a moment, watching Tango gesticulate animatedly until he looked up and saw him. He gave Impulse a wide, happy grin, and gestured at him to come closer before he just continued the story. Some of the children looked up when he approached, but most immediately lost interest again in favour of listening to Tango. One of the boys tugged at Impulse's hand until he sat down on the ground with a quiet chuckle to himself and focussed on the tale Tango was telling.

By the end of it, Impulse had a child leaning into each side of him and two more somehow fitting in his lap. He could see the wife of the owner of the caravanserais stand in the door to the kitchen, looking out towards them, her eyes twinkling with laughter, but he didn't mind, because Tango...Tango was a really good storyteller, and he was just as drawn into it as the children, following each twist and turn of the story. Tango's hands were expressive, telling as much of the story as his words. If it hadn't been for the tale Impulse could have easily been lost in just watching him.

But the story ended eventually, and when the children begged for Tango to tell another one, he just laughed fondly and said, “I’d love to, but I actually have something to talk to Impulse about. Maybe later.”

Impulse blinked, it was as if he was waking from a dream, and it took him am moment to remember why he had come. He gently dislodged the children, and stood.

“You have a talent for story-telling, djinn,” the storyteller was saying to Tango by the time Impulse had finally pulled himself fully together again.

Tango smiled at the old man, though something Impulse couldn’t quite read passed over his face, so quickly gone he almost thought he had imagined it.

“I had a lot of practice,” Tango replied quizzically. “Though I am sure it was not as much as you had.”

“Oh, but I am an old man.” The storyteller smiled, and with a small bow of his head, he turned back to the children. “Now who wants to hear another story?” he asked, while Tango quickly took Impulse’s arm and pulled him through the gate and into the street.

“Ah man, sorry for the wait. The storyteller asked me if I had heard any good stories on my travels and the children caught wind of it,” Tango said. “Let’s go down to the water.”

His hand was still on Impulse’s elbow, gently steering him along, and it took a lot of concentration for Impulse to not trip over his feet as they walked down the road towards the lake at the centre of the oasis.

They found a spot in the shade, out of the way, and Tango let out a relieved sigh when they sat down in the grass.

“Ah, I miss telling stories. I used to go down to the village by the Hermitage to tell them to the children there all the time, but I haven’t had the time in a while, and then X asked me to travel here, and… god, I’m rambling.” He chuckled to himself, and opened his eyes to look at Impulse. “So you have made a decision then?”

Impulse swallowed and nodded. “I’ll come with you,” he said. “I should at least talk to Xisuma. Who knows, maybe it’s the place I’ve been looking for all my life.”

Tango’s smile was gentle as he reached out and grasped his shoulder. “I’m sure you will.” He sounded so confident that Impulse had to swallow again.

“Thank you,” he managed to say past the lump in his throat.

Tango looked like he was considering something for a moment before he slipped his arm around Impulse's shoulders and pulled him into a hug. "It'll be fine," he said, softly. "We'll be your home."

There was something in his voice that told of his own hurt, though Impulse couldn't even begin to grasp what it was. He sank into the hug and wrapped his own arms around Tango, who hugged him like all of a sudden he needed it as much as Impulse did.

The moment passed and Tango leaned back, leaving Impulse to wish that it could have lasted a little longer.

"So… leaving, right," Tango said, and they focused on planning their departure.

The plan was to depart for the Jinn's Finger after gathering what supplies they needed. It would mean a detour, which had made Tango scrunch up his face in annoyance and muttering something about how he should have known, but it was unavoidable. Tango had made a deal with the jinn and they both knew better than to just leave and ignore it. After that they would hit the road north to get out of the desert as fast as they could, before turning west towards the mountains. It was a long journey to the Hermitlands, and they still had to be cautious about keeping their heads down, but Tango had made it one way already, and he sounded like he knew what he was doing.

They gathered their supplies and made sure that their horses were well-rested and injury-free, Tango's a beautiful stud, his coat so dark brown it almost looked black. It was a sturdy horse, not as slim and light as Impulse's own grey mare, but still elegant. Judging by the fondness with which Tango looked at him, they had been through a lot together already.

They finally set out three days later, early in the morning to catch as much time as possible before the sun heated the desert up to the point of being almost unbearable. It would be a day's journey to the Djinn's Finger, heading northeast until they hit the mountains and then following them for a while.

"So why's it called the Djinn's Finger?" Tango asked, after they had travelled in silence for a few hours.

Impulse shrugged. "It's just this rock spire sticking out from the ground. People thought it looked like a finger. There are stories about a cave set into the mountain behind it where djinn live, but as far as I know that's nothing but legend."

Tango nodded, and they lapsed back into silence. When Impulse glanced over to him, he looked pensive. He had his eyes on the mountains that slowly grew larger in the distance, considering them as if he wanted to uncover their secrets.

It wasn't until they reached them and turned north that either of them spoke again.

"So what should we expect from this deal?" Impulse asked into the silence.

"I don't know for sure." Tango shrugged. "I have a hunch, but nothing definite. All I'm sure about is that it won't be life-threatening."

"Well that's always an upside." Impulse tried not to show how nervous he was about this, but when he looked over Tango watched him intently.

"It's going to be okay. I've known Ramal since we were little children hiding behind our mothers, if he wanted to hurt either of us he would have done so that day when he approached me," he said. "Knowing him whatever he has in mind will just involve him telling me I am a brat." He chuckled, and Impulse felt his heart go a little lighter again. He had only known Tango for a few days, but he trusted him.

Soon enough the Djinn's Finger came into sight. The sun had already started to set when they reached the rock formation, painting it in a fiery red glow, almost as if it was on fire. A whirl of wind twisted up sand and dust into the air, painted just as red by the sunlight. It stopped right before them and died down to reveal the djinn.

Tango huffed out a laugh, and said, "You've always been dramatic, Ramal."

"You used to appreciate it." The djinn grinned, and Tango shook his head before he got off his horse and approached him to wrap him in a hug.

"It's good to see you."

Impulse followed a bit slower, still unsure what to think of Ramal.

"I was always there. If you had wanted to find me you could have." Ramal's gaze shifted to Impulse. "So you decided to go with him," he said. "Good choice. You're safe with him."

Impulse only nodded mutely, before Tango said, "So what do we have to do for you to let us leave?"

Ramal looked at him, considering. "It's not so much something you both have to do, but something you have to do. Though it's probably easiest if both of you come along." He turned around to look towards the mountain. "Have you heard the legends about this place?"

"They say there is a cave where a djinn lives." They were the first words Impulse said since they had arrived, and Ramal shot him a look and nodded.

"That's right."

"But that's just a legend, isn't it?"

"Well, there is a hint of truth to every legend," Ramal said. "No djinn lives in this mountain, but that doesn't mean we are not here."

"He means that they have a Nether portal here so they can come and go as they please," Tango said. When Impulse looked over at him, something had hardened in his eyes. "You know why I left. I'm not coming back."

"I know you're not. But she deserves to get closure, too."

"Ramal…" Tango said.

"Just a visit, Tango. Just say hello and you can go."

Impulse looked between them, Ramal with an almost pleading look on his face, Tango's expression hard and his jaw clenched.

"What...what does he want you to do?"

Tango looked over at him, and his expression softened a little. "He wants me to visit my mother."

"Your mother?"

Tango nodded. "See, I'm not a full djinn. I look like one but I got none of their powers. My mother however…she is one of them. I grew up with them, but when I was old enough I left and never looked back."

There was more to it, Impulse was sure. But neither Tango, nor Ramal volunteered anything more, and he didn't want to ask.

"Please, Tango," Ramal said. "She's been heartbroken about it since you left. She doesn't show it but we all know she is. She's still your mother, and she loves you. She deserves some closure."

Tango sighed. "You're asking for a lot."

"I know." Ramal shrugged. "But so are you. You know how it goes."

Impulse could see Tango deflate a little, as if he was resigning himself to his fate.

"Under one condition," he finally said.

"If it is in my power you will have it."

"Impulse gets full protection. No fishy business, and no harm comes to him while we are there."

Ramal nodded. "Of course. He will be under my personal protection at all times."

"If anything happens to him, you will be the one who has to pay, you understand that?"

The look on Tango's face was hard as steel, and Impulse could see the colour of his eyes shift ever so slightly, as if the fire in them had grown hotter.

Ramal placed his hand on his heart. "I understand and accept that responsibility," he said.

Tango nodded. "So it shall be."

There was a weight behind their words, as if they had exchanged more than just a promise for protection.

Seemingly satisfied, Tango's stance relaxed.

"What do we do with the horses?" He asked.

"How do they do with fire?"

Tango shrugged. "Blaze doesn't care much. He's been to the Nether before."

"And yours?" Ramal shot Impulse a questioning look.

"Ghast is a tough one. As long as Blaze doesn't panic she should be fine."

"Good. We'll take them through and leave them at the stables. They shouldn't see or hear much of the Nether there."

"Then lead the way," Tango said, taking Blaze's reigns.

The portal led them to a large cavern in the Nether. It was meticulously dug out, its walls reinforced with basalt. A guard tower was built into the side of it, with guards keeping a watchful eye on the portal and whoever came through. They eyed the three of them curiously as they passed and when they reached the large tunnel on the opposite side of the cavern, Impulse could hear whispers behind them.

Ramal led them down the main tunnel and into a short side tunnel branching off of it. The second tunnel opened into a stable, directly built into the netherrack, but as grand as any of the large horse stables in the Overworld.

At Ramal's call the horse master appeared out of one of the boxes, eyeing them curiously. His eyes widened when he saw Tango, and after a quick conversation with Ramal, he took the horses off their hands.

"You can leave your things, I will take care of them," he said. "What are the horses' names?"

"The brown one is Blaze, the grey one is Ghast," Tango said before Impulse could reply. He clapped a hand on the horse master's shoulder and added, "I know you will take great care of them, you always have."

"Could have taken better care of some."

Tango looked taken aback, but before he could say anything the horse master was leading the horses away.

"He was always fond of you," Ramal said quietly as they walked back towards the main tunnel.

It wasn't until they reached the main cavern that Impulse realised that the jinn must have done something to filter the air in the tunnels. As soon as they excited out into the open the more typical smells of the Nether hit; the sulphur and the smoke, the hint of earthiness from a warped forest across the lava lake that stretched far below. Impulse hadn't been to the Nether in a while, and the heat and the dryness always hit him again.

Tango put a steadying hand on his shoulder and said, "It'll get better once we are inside."

Impulse looked at him and nodded. "I can deal until then."

"I know." Tango smiled, and squeezed his shoulder, but despite the heat and Impulse's reassurances he didn't let go.

Once his head had cleared a little, Impulse managed to actually look at his surroundings, and he almost lost his breath again.

They were at the edge of the largest Nether cavern Impulse had ever been in, and in the middle of it sprawled a city unlike anything he had ever seen. It was suspended over the lava lake, on tall pillars of netherbrick. There were buildings from almost as low as the surface of the lava lake to right below the bedrock ceiling Impulse could only barely make out over their heads. He could see patches of warped forest and crimson forest, the two largest of them on either side of a towering palace.

With Tango so close, Impulse was probably the only one who heard him mutter that Ramal really wanted to torture him, but when Impulse shot him a questioning look he just shook his head.

They walked right through the centre of the city, Tango still sticking close to Impulse’s side. Impulse was almost too busy looking at the city around him to realise how Tango held himself differently the further they got into the city. His back was a lot straighter, the way he walked changed, and where his entire stance and demeanour in the days they had known each other spoke of someone who spent a lot of his life fighting, it was less pronounced now. Now that he was looking Impulse could still see the warrior, but Tango seemed less like the gritty traveller and more like a trained soldier, discipline in his every movement.

It was curious to see, and as they got closer to the palace, Impulse couldn’t help but wonder what exactly was awaiting them. If the whispers that followed them all through the city were any indication it was something big.

It wasn’t until they approached the gates of the palace that Impulse realised that they were actually going inside. He shot Tango another look, but he was looking straight ahead at Ramal’s back.

“You really want to go through the front?” he asked.

Ramal shot them a look over his shoulder. “It’s the fastest way.”

“And also the most public one.”

“I don’t think there is a completely non-public way to do this.” Ramal shrugged.

Tango had already opened his mouth to reply, when the doors of the palace flew open and a woman stepped out, wind still dancing around her, making her blonde hair almost look like a halo. Tango let go of Impulse’s arm to step forward, and it was almost as if a hush fell over the entire city.

“Hello mother,” he said.


	2. Exploration

For a moment Impulse had no idea how this would go. The expression on the queen's face (because that's who she was wasn't she?) was unreadable. But then something changed, her expression softened, and a moment later she was standing in front of Tango and wrapping him in a hug.

"Lahab Saghir," she whispered, barely audible from where Impulse was standing. "You're home."

Tango was swept away before he could even get a word in. He managed to shoot a look over at Ramal, who was smirking and had moved closer to a rather confused looking Impulse. Ramal caught his look and inclined his head, his hand on his heart to remind Tango that he was bound by promise.

If anything Tango trusted that.

His mother took him up to her private quarters, the very same rooms where he had spent most of his childhood. She didn't say anything else until they reached her sitting room. It hadn't changed much since the last time he had stood here, at least not in the ways that mattered. The room still opened onto a wide balcony that looked out over the gardens behind the palace, the furthest reaches of the warped forest disappearing in the blue fog in the distance.

He stood by the window, doing his best not to fidget as his mother looked him up and down.

Finally she smiled. "It's good to have you back, my son. You were gone for so long."

Tango sighed. "I'm not staying, mother. I'm only here because I made a deal with Ramal."

Her face fell immediately, and she turned away. "But why?"

"Because I have a home out there." He said it calmly, but the effect was as if he had sucked the air out of the room.

Even from behind he could see the emotional turmoil his mother was in. Without seeing her face he knew that there was anger, confusion, hurt, but also guilt. He had seen it on her face before. And he still loved her deeply, but that didn't change that she had to accept that he had left.

"I thought you had a home here," she finally said, so softly that he could barely hear her.

He sighed and walked over to wrap his arms around her.

"I thought that, too. And it was my home. But it wasn't a great home. I had you and I had Ramal, but to everyone else I was just a human runt. Sure, I was their prince, but they always looked down on me. I had to go out and find my place in the world. I'm sorry for how I left, but I just couldn't do it anymore."

She looked up at him, and he could see tears in her eyes.

"But you have found your place now?"

He nodded. "I have. I travelled for a while, learned all I could, and I found friends who became as close as family. I'm happy with them, and they accept me for who I am."

She nodded slowly and sighed. "I guess I have to accept it. I just...I should have realised it earlier and I should have done more to help you." She hugged him tightly before she stepped away and wiped away her tears.

"Come on," she said, taking his hand and pulling him down to sit with her. "Now tell me what happened to you since you have left."

They sat there talking well into the evening, Tango explaining everything from how he had snuck into the Overworld to how he had met Xisuma and joined him and his brother to become a Hermit. When he mentioned that the brothers came from the Void she brushed a hand over his forehead and smiled softly.

"Yes, there is Voidmagic on you. I should have realised it earlier. But it's so faint, it almost disappears with our own magic around," she said.

She asked about the other Hermits, and he was happy to tell her about them, about Mumbo, who was amazing with redstone but also messed up so often that he was surprised when something worked; about Zedaph, who was quite happy tending to his sheep and causing mischief; Doc, who had finally stopped looking for a way back to the world he had come from; about Ren and Stress and False and all the others who had become his family. She smiled and nodded, and let him talk.

When he got to the end of it she asked, “But how did you come here? What kind of deal did Ramal make with you?"

"There is a redstoner, Impulse, who lived in one of the oases under your protection," he said. "X sent me to offer him a place as a Hermit, and Ramal found me. He offered me a deal, he'd let Impulse go with me if I came to visit you. Otherwise he'd deal with him himself."

"And you accepted for a complete stranger." His mother smiled. "You're a good man, son. I couldn't be more proud of you."

Tango shrugged. "Xisuma would have done the same. As would any of the other Hermits. If we can help we will."

"I'm proud of who you have become."

They lapsed into silence for a moment before his mother said, "I'm sure you are tired though. You should take a bath and clean yourself up, I'll send for Ramal and this Impulse and we can have dinner together."

"Thank you. That would be nice."

She smiled. "You could stay a few days, allow us to celebrate your return, however briefly."

He sighed, but she looked so hopeful he couldn't bring himself to say outright no.

"I'll talk to Impulse about it. See what he says about the delay," he said finally.

She nodded. "That's all I could ask for."

Tango felt better once he had bathed. It felt good to be rid of the sweat and the dirt from travelling all day. His mother had given him his old rooms, almost untouched since the day he left, and when he was done in the bath, he put on the pants a servant had left for him, and stepped out onto the balcony, running a towel over his hair.

He was deep in thought so he only realised that he wasn't alone when he heard a strangled sound behind him. He turned to find Impulse standing at the far end of the balcony, looking cleaned up himself and wearing one of the flowing robes most djinn preferred. He looked flustered and when Tango crossed over towards him he realised that it wasn't just a trick of the light that made it seem like he blushed.

"I...uh...I didn't realise you'd be here too," Impulse practically squealed out.

Tango blinked in confusion. "These are my old rooms," he explained, and then it dawned on him. "Wait, this is Ramal's doing isn't it?"

He groaned as Impulse shrugged sheepishly. "I guess it is."

"Well I guess that will make finding you for dinner easier at least."

"So we are getting dinner then."

Tango shrugged. "Mother insisted."

"The talk with her went well?" Impulse gave him a considering look, even though his eyes kept flitting down to Tango's chest. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling if Tango let himself think about it.

Still he focused. "I'm sorry for springing that at you like this. I...I had hoped it would all be a little less….public," he said.

Impulse shrugged and smiled. "It's not every day you realise that you're travelling with royalty."

"I should have told you." Tango bit his lip, which somehow made Impulse immediately focus on his mouth.

He licked his lips and swallowed. "Ramal told me the basics," he said. "I can't say I fault you for leaving."

"It was what it was."

They lapsed into silence, Tango deep in thought while Impulse looked like he was still trying to pull himself together.

"So dinner with your mother," Impulse finally said. "Anything I should know in advance?"

"Not really, I think." Tango shrugged. "It's not like a...official affair. She can be a bit intimidating I guess, and she'll probably try to find out as much about you as she can, but...she's not that bad really."

"Okay then. I can do that, I think."

"Oh that reminds me. She asked if we could stay a few days. I think she really wants to have a big celebration of some sorts. I said I'd have to talk to you first so..."

Tango shrugged a bit sheepishly, but Impulse only gave him a considering look.

"Do you want to stay?"

Tango was taken aback, he hadn't really considered it if he was honest.

"I don't know," he admitted. He bit his lip again and looked out over the gardens. "I think I'd like to. And you looked impressed by the city. I could show you around. If you want me to that is."

"Then we stay," Impulse decided. He reached out and there was only the barest hint of hesitation before he put his hand on Tango's shoulder. "I'd love to learn more about this place."

Something relaxed in Tango at his touch and he gave him a big, toothy grin. "I'd love to show you."

Impulse smiled softly and Tango had to swallow. It felt like he was balancing on the edge of one of the overhangs of the Nether, almost about to fall down into the lava. He and Ramal had made a game of it when they were kids, balancing on a ledge high up with nothing between them and the sheer drop. Ramal had had his powers, able to transform into a gust of wind before he could hit the surface of the lake. Tango had had Ramal, who was always ready to save him. They had never needed it. There had always been an adult close enough to drag them back from the ledge before anything could happen.

But before he could even try to figure out what it meant, the moment was shattered by Ramal's voice.

"I hope you are decent," he called out as he strode out onto the balcony.

Tango groaned and threw the towel he still had in his hands, aiming right at his face.

Ramal caught it with a laugh. "Still a slowpoke, I see."

"I'll show you slowpoke," Tango grumbled as he turned on his heel and lunged for Ramal, who evaded him easily.

"You better get dressed though, your mother awaits us."

"Yeah right." Tango gave Impulse a quick smile, and said, "I'll be right back."

Impulse smiled back, but the expression in his eyes was unreadable.

Dinner went better than Tango had expected. As intimidating as his mother could be, she was also warm and caring, and she did her best to include everyone. The questions she asked Impulse were normal enough for a first meeting, but Tango could see his mother's mind at work and the way she asked her questions to find out as much as she could was a familiar pattern he had to shake his head at with a fond smile.

He learned three things over dinner.

First: The way Impulse’s eyes lit up when he talked about something he was passionate about.

Second: The amused grin when he egged on Tango and Ramal when they tried to verbally one up each other just too casually one up both of them.

Third: The way his own stomach swooped when Impulse looked over at him and smiled softly.

They returned to Tango’s rooms, though they were really theirs for the time being, joking and laughing together. It was only when the door had already closed behind them that Tango realised they had a bit of a problem.

“So uh… we have one issue,” he said, turning to Impulse, who raised an eyebrow at him. “There is only one bed.”

“Oh.” He could swear that Impulse was blushing a little, but he was getting tired and the light didn’t make it any easier to see.

“You’re a guest,” Tango started saying at the same time as Impulse said, “I wouldn’t want to take your-” They both broke off, laughing.

“I mean it is a fairly large bed,” Tango said. “We could always share.”

Impulse hesitated but then he shrugged. “If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t,” Tango said maybe too quickly. “I really don’t.”

“Then it’s settled.” Impulse smiled, and Tango’s mouth just went dry. Maybe he should have taken the floor after all.

When Impulse woke up the next morning Tango was star-fished across his half of the bed, and had somehow over night stolen all the covers for himself. It was good that the Nether wasn’t a particularly cold place, Impulse guessed, but it still felt weird to have no covers at all. He had no idea how early or late it was, but he didn’t particularly feel like getting up right now. For a moment he just stared at Tango’s face, relaxed and with his mouth open, drooling a little onto his pillow. It made his heart beat faster and fondness well up in his chest. He didn’t allow himself to think about it, but he committed the image to his memory before he robbed closer and stole his covers back from Tango. Decidedly he turned his back to Tango and tried to go back to sleep, if only for his own sanity.

When he woke next Tango was already up and rooting through a chest. He was shirtless once again, and Impulse had to swallow. The light of the glowstone lamps painted his skin almost golden, and for a moment Impulse allowed himself to watch the way his muscles shifted with his motions, the pure strength in his shoulders evident even then.

He must have made a sound because Tango turned and gave him a soft happy smile.

"You're awake," he said.

And Impulse didn’t do well with mornings on the best of days, but shirtless Tango being the first thing he saw after waking up made it worse somehow, and all he could produce was a vaguely agreeing noise, before he had to yawn.

Tango chuckled fondly. “Not a morning person I see.” He got up and stretched, providing Impulse with a full view of his bare torso. “You just wake up, I’ll go see about organising breakfast.”

He left the room, whistling lowly and grabbing his shirt from where he had thrown it on top of a different chest the evening before. Impulse could see him pull it over his head as he walked through the main room towards the door. He let his head fall forward back onto the mattress with a low groan. All of this had been a terrible idea.

Tango could do nothing against how seeing Impulse sleepy and barely awake made his heart beat faster. It was distracting, and he had to be careful not to show too much of what he was feeling. He was glad that he had an excuse to leave the room to call for breakfast because it meant he had time to pull himself together and try to push the feeling of Impulse’s sleepy eyes watching his every movement far to the back of his mind. It had felt intimate, and he was almost sure that Impulse hadn’t realised that Tango had seen him watch. He’d keep it to himself, maybe even cherish it, but it felt wrong to come to any conclusions based on it.

They had breakfast and by the end of it Impulse looked like he was finally fully awake. It was nice, even though Tango was sure that the servants would be gossiping about their rooming situation for at least several years. Luckily it wasn’t like he would be around to give them more fodder.

After breakfast he began showing Impulse around. He had decided to start with the palace while he figured out if any of his old ways to sneak out into the city without the townsfolk noticing would still work. He wanted to actually be able to show Impulse the city without being intercepted by people at every turn. But he would have to check with Ramal and figure something out with him for that.

In the meantime the palace provided ample entertainment. There were a thousand places to show off, from the grand state rooms to some of the favourite nooks and crannies of Tango’s childhood. He tried not to think about making new memories in them with Impulse, not when he wasn’t even sure that that was even an option.

He kept the gardens for last, and if he had thought Impulse couldn’t look at them with any more wide-eyed wonder than he already looked at the palace, he had been wrong. He looked completely fascinated by the way the Crimson Forest and the Warped Forest transitioned into one another. The djinn who had built the gardens had used it to their advantage and created entire maze-like areas that could make visitors question their sense of direction. Impulse looked enchanted by all of it. He laughed when Tango took his hand and pulled him off the path and into a cluster of crimson fungi, weaving around the stems until they reached a small clearing in the middle.

The little hut Tango had constructed as a child was still there, the carpets that had appeared the morning after his mother had heard about the existence of it still lying on the ground. It had been a tight fit for a long time, but Tango unceremoniously pulled the carpets out of the hut into the open, and pulled Impulse down to lie next to him.

For a moment they just lay there, Tango looking up into the crowns of the fungi, the whole clearing softly illuminated by the shroomlights and the soulfire lanterns scattered around the fungi to keep any hoglins away.

“I spent a lot of time here as a child,” he said, still deep in thought. “I could be away from all the looks and the whispers behind my back. It was nice.” He turned his head to find Impulse watching him with a fond smile on his face, and had to swallow. He felt like he was too close all of a sudden, the distance between them not enough to keep his thoughts from spiralling into an endless loop of Impulse’s name.

He took a deep breath and glanced back up.

“Ramal was the only one who was allowed to come find me in here,” he said, trying to get his thoughts back on track.

The result was instant, the shift in Impulse’s face too obvious not to be seen from up close. He was still smiling, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, and Tango had to wonder what exactly had caused it.

Impulse cleared his throat. “You and Ramal were pretty close, weren’t you?”

“I guess so,” Tango said with a shrug. “He was the only one apart from my mother who never judged me. As I said before, I’ve known him since we were both small children. He was just always there until I left.”

“I’m glad that you had someone who stuck with you all those years.” Some of the fondness had crept back into Impulse’s eyes, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as it had been before. Tango wished he could have it back.

They had to get back to the palace eventually. Since Tango’s mother had insisted that they would celebrate his return, even if it was only temporary, neither of them would get out of getting fitted for clothes for the occasion. Tango himself would have been completely fine with going in his usual pants and shirt, but he had little choice in the matter. Besides, after seeing Impulse in the normal everyday clothing of the djinn the evening before, Tango was curious to see what he would look like in something more formal. But he would have to wait because the celebration was still a few days away.

That evening when he was sure Impulse was sleeping, Tango slipped out of bed and onto the balcony to meet up with Ramal. He had only briefly seen him all day when they had passed each other in a hallway, but it had been long enough to convey that he wanted to meet up out here once everyone was asleep.

Sure enough, shortly after Tango stepped outside, Ramal seemed to manifest out of thin air next to him. He stood close, their shoulders brushing, and leaned in a little so they could whisper with each other without disturbing Impulse. Neither of them saw Impulse in the shadows of the door, watching them with a hurt expression.

Impulse woke up disoriented. It was far too warm, and something heavy was wrapped around his shoulders, holding him in place.

When he slowly opened his eyes he realised that he had somehow moved close to Tango, who had latched onto him and held him close to his chest, his breath ghosting through Impulse’s hair.

Impulse had to swallow. He had seen him with Ramal last night, standing on the balcony. They had stood close together, and Impulse had quickly turned around and snuck back to bed. Their moment had seemed too intimate to watch, and he hadn’t thought that he could take much more of it.

And now this. He didn’t know what to think of it. Hell, he still didn’t quite know what to think of anything that had happened over the past two days, and Tango holding him close like this, as if he actually wanted Impulse to be so close didn’t help his confusion in the slightest. He was still debating what to do about it when Tango moved in his sleep and murmured, “Don’t go, Impulse.” His arm tightened around him, and Impulse’s heart seemed to stutter in his chest it was beating so fast. And somewhere deep down, a kernel of hope took root.

He woke up when Tango cautiously unwrapped himself from around him and left him alone under the mount of blankets. He could swear that Tango's hand lingered before he removed it, and that lips brushed his temple, but he was comfortable and still sleepy and he immediately dozed off again.

By the time Impulse felt awake enough to face the world, Tango was dressed and he could smell breakfast. Tango was leaning over him, a smile on his face, and when Impulse sat up he pressed a warm cup into his hands.

“I’m sorry I didn’t think of it yesterday, but I got you coffee this morning,” Tango said, still smiling.

Impulse gave him a thankful smile and took a sip. It was strong, the way it was usually made in the desert, and Impulse savoured the bitter taste on his tongue.

“Thank you,” he finally said, and Tango reached out to squeeze his shoulder.

“It’s really not a problem.” He stood up and Impulse realised for the first time that he was wearing different clothes than usual. He had forgone his usual red and black in favour of one of the long white almost gown-like garments that Impulse had been given on their first day. It made him look different, hid the bulk of his muscles a little.

Tango caught him looking and smiled. “I’ll explain over breakfast,” he promised, and Impulse nodded.

They left the palace through a servant’s entrance a few hours later, unseen by anyone. Impulse had put on similar clothes to Tango, and they had both covered their heads. They met a similarly dressed Ramal in a square a few streets away from the palace, and set out to show Impulse the city. Tango watched him fondly, as they explored the trading district, every street of it home to a different trade. Ramal lead them from the very top of the city almost to the very bottom, down to the point where the heat from the lava lake below got almost too much for Impulse. They had a drink and a snack in one of the shops, and Impulse had about a million questions about trade and supply lines that Tango answered as best as he could, while Ramal pretended not to know anything about the topic.

They saw at least some of the gardens that were all around the city. None of them were as elaborate as the ones at the palace, but they served their purpose, and considering the limited space they had had available there was not much possibility for improvement.

It was a nice day, and while Impulse had seemed like something was on his mind all morning, whatever it was was quickly gone in favour of marvelling at his surroundings. By the time they snuck back into the palace, this time with Ramal in tow, it was completely gone.

They were back in Tango’s rooms when Ramal approached him. Tango himself was off looking for something in one of his chests, and Impulse had wandered outside to look over the gardens from the balcony, while Ramal made fun of Tango. Impulse wasn’t alone for long though, because Ramal followed him after all, and stood next to him, leaning on the railing.

“You have nothing to fear,” Ramal said into the silence.

Impulse shot him a confused look, and said, “About what?”

“About Tango and me. I know we seem close, but we were only ever best friends, never more.” He was staring off into the distance when Impulse chanced a look, and there was a pause before he continued. “There was a time when I wouldn’t have said no had he approached me. But the day never came and then he left, and I had to move on.”

Impulse swallowed. “Thank you for telling me,” he finally said, and Ramal nodded.

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you. I don’t know if he has realised it yet, but I do know that he has never looked at me like that.”

Impulse shot him another surprised look, but before he could say anything else, Tango slung an arm around each of them, a broad grin on his face.

“So what are you two conspiring about?”

Ramal ducked out of it with a laugh, but Impulse stayed where he was and when he looked there was a wide smile on Tango’s face, happy and affectionate, and Impulse thought he saw what Ramal meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Lahab Saghir" means "Little Flame" in Arabic according to Google translate.


	3. Revelations

It seemed that waking up with Tango wrapped around him would just be a thing while they were sleeping in the same bed, because when he woke up the next morning Impulse was in a similar position to the morning before. It was tempting to stay there and go back to sleep, but this morning Impulse needed a bit of space. He cautiously worked his way out from underneath the pile of blankets and out of Tango's arms, and after a quick trip to the bathroom, he pulled on his clothes and retreated outside onto the balcony.

Despite there being no obvious day and night cycle in the Nether, the djinn had established a resemblance of one, and if the last few days had been any indication it was still early morning. He rested his arms on the handrail and looked out into the gardens. The conversation with Ramal the afternoon before had thrown him for a complete loop. He hadn’t thought he would have to re-examine every impression he had gotten from Ramal’s and Tango’s interactions, but here he was. There hadn’t been time to work it out the day before, not when Tango was right there and excited to show him around and just always watching his reactions, this look in his eyes as if he was hoping that Impulse would like it.

And Impulse did like it. The entire city was fascinating, and he felt honoured even to see it. But he liked having Tango’s full attention on him even more. He just… he felt like he had known Tango all his life, and sure the attraction was there, but also… it felt deeper somehow, as if his heart had known Tango before they had ever met. Finding out that his feelings weren’t hopeless, no that they were most likely reciprocated, was a little overwhelming, but somehow also felt completely natural, as if it would have been impossible for there to be any other outcome. Ramal had seen it; had watched them and known. Impulse suspected that it was the same with Queen Malika, not that she had said anything. Impulse had understood it. Which only left the question if Tango had realised it yet.

He stood there, allowing himself to dream until he heard a sound behind him, followed by Tango joining him, suppressing a yawn.

"You're up early," he said, a soft smile on his face.

Impulse shrugged. "Just...thinking."

"Before coffee even? Must be important thoughts then."

His eyes sparkled with humour when Impulse looked over and he had to bite his tongue so he didn't blurt out his feelings.

Tango didn't ask though, he just gently pressed their shoulders together and looked out into the distance in silence.

The moment felt as if it could have stretched into eternity, but it was broken when Impulse had to yawn.

Tango chuckled. "Come on, let's get you that coffee," he said and turned away to head back inside. Impulse missed the contact almost immediately.

They were almost done with their breakfast when someone knocked on the door and Ramal came in. He wished them a good morning and sat down in a chair at the table with them.

"Your mother sent me here," he explained at Tango's questioning look. "She wants you to come talk to her in her study, while I stay with Impulse."

Tango frowned, but shrugged. "I'll go when I'm done here." He looked between the two of them. "So can I leave you alone with each other?"

"Go talk to your mother." Impulse rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I have a few ideas about what we can do today." Ramal grinned at Impulse, and now that he knew what he did, Impulse could grin back without even the slightest hint of apprehension.

Tango only smiled, and turned back to his breakfast.

When Tango left to talk to his mother Impulse and Ramal were already deep in a discussion about their plans for the day. Tango had to smile at it as the door closed behind him. They hadn’t seemed to hate each other, but there had been some apprehension on Impulse’s part, which Tango completely understood. But ever since he had found them talking on the balcony the day before Impulse seemed to have relaxed. Tango had no idea what they had talked about, but he was glad that they were friendlier now.

He reached his mother’s study before he could even start to think about what Ramal and Impulse might have talked about, and after a short knock he entered.

His mother looked up from the documents she was reading and smiled at him when she saw him.

“Good morning,” he said

“Good morning,” she said and gestured for him to sit down in a chair. “Just give me a moment.”

Tango nodded and sat down, trying not to fidget. He remembered the last time he had been here, shortly before he had left. They had had an argument about his request to be allowed to travel the Overworld for a while. He remembered that his mother had been absolutely against it, and at the time he had only been angry at her for holding him back. He had left shortly after, snuck out of the palace late one night, and left through one of the Nether portals as early as he could without making anyone too suspicious. Not that most of the djinn stationed at the portal would have cared much. Incoming travellers were watched a lot more closely than those who left the realm. And so Tango had left without looking back.

In hindsight his mother had been both right and wrong. Because he had had to learn how dangerous the world out there was, and he had quickly figured out that as good as his form and fighting abilities were, he was painfully unprepared for an actual fight. But he had never given up, sheer stubbornness about proving his mother wrong driving him in the beginning.

And then Xisuma had found him. He had given Tango a new home, a new family, a place where he could just be. Soon enough his motivation had changed. He was still stubborn, but the thought that he had to prove his mother wrong hadn’t even crossed his mind since shortly after he became a Hermit. No, these days Tango fought to protect his family and his home, which was a much better motivation.

He was still deep in thought when his mother pushed the papers on her desk to the side and smiled at him, before she got up and walked around the desk to sit in the other chair.

“Thank you for coming,” she said, even though they both knew that he didn’t exactly have a lot of choice in the matter. A summons by the queen of the djinn wasn’t so easily ignored, even by her own son.

“Ramal said you wanted to talk to me,” he said.

His mother nodded. “Yes. I know you’re only back temporarily and that you are going to leave in the next few days. And I’m not going to stop you. You have made your own life, and I will not take that from you.” She took a deep breath. “However, I do think we should talk about your position here before you leave.”

“My position here?” Tango raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.” His mother smiled at his obvious confusion. “Whether you thought about it since you left or not, you are still my only child, which means that you are still the crown prince. You have never officially given up the title, and I have never had reason to name a different heir.”

Tango breathed in sharply. “I really never thought about it,” he admitted. “I just thought you would have named someone else in my absence.”

“Oh Tango.” His mother reached out and took his hand. “I always hoped that you would return one day, and whatever some of them say, you are still my son, and you have every right to the throne, whether you have any of our djinn powers or not.”

He nodded slowly. “So what is it you want to ask me?”

Her face turned serious. “I want to give you a choice I never got to give you when you were younger, because I was too blind to see how you were feeling. Do you want to keep your title and your position? I don’t expect you to stay, and I don’t think this will affect you for a long while, but if you want to be released from this obligation I will not stop you.”

Tango was silent for a moment before he said, “I…can I think about it?”

His mother nodded. “Think about it. Talk to Impulse. I’m sure he will have his own thoughts on it.”

Tango was about to nod when her words registered, and he gave her a confused look. “I-Impulse? Why would I talk to Impulse about this?”

She looked surprised, but then she studied his face and sighed. “Oh you haven’t realised it yet, have you?”

“Realised what?”

“My son, I have seen the way the two of you look at each other. And I see how close you already are, even though you have only known each other for a few days." She sighed. "You have never shown any signs of my blood except for your appearance, but it seems that you may have more in you than I thought."

It took him a moment to understand, but then he looked at her in wide-eyed surprise. "You mean…?"

"Yes."

Tango had to swallow, before he whispered, "But how am I supposed to explain that to him?"

His mother leaned forward and put one hand on his cheek. "You have to trust him, son. I have seen the way he watches you, you have to trust in his heart as well as your own. Explain it to him, and if he needs time to come to terms with it don't despair. Give him room to accept it on his own terms."

Tango bit his lip, and nodded slowly. His mother pulled him into a hug.

"If I could make it any easier, I would," she whispered into his hair, as he clutched at her, still trying to process what this might mean for him and Impulse.

Finally he took a deep breath and gently let go of her.

"You're right though," he said. "I have to talk to him."

She smiled and as she got up, she leaned in and kissed his forehead. "Go think about it, and then talk to him."

He nodded, and with a last squeeze of her hand, he got up and walked to the door.

"I'll see you at dinner then," he said, throwing her a small smile over his shoulder, before he walked out.

He stood in the corridor for a moment, trying to decide what to do. He guessed he could go find Impulse and Ramal, but then...he needed to think first before he saw Impulse again. And he needed to figure out how to talk to him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he turned towards the gardens. He needed some time on his own.

Ramal took Impulse to see the Alchemists' Tower first. He had looked surprised when Impulse had said he hadn't seen it, but then he had shaken his head and said, "That's Tango for you. He never had much time for alchemy and books."

So they had headed out into the city again, this time through the front gate, and Ramal lead him down a broad boulevard that connected to a large pillar that stretched all the way from the ceiling down to the lava lake. They stopped to admire it in its entirety, and Ramal pointed out the platforms of nether brick where the alchemists bred the creatures of the Nether that they used for their potion ingredients. Above them started windows and balconies, a theme that continued all the way up to the top, only broken up by the entrance and more breeding platforms further up.

The entrance was an ornately carved door, almost as grand as the palace gate, that opened onto a wide balcony that ran around the entirety of the inside of the pillar. There were two stair cases spiralling round each other in the middle in the form of a double-helix structure. Above and below the levels of the pillar looked much the same, except these were filled with a variety of laboratories, work stations and a library that looked like it contained every book ever published. And deep down at the bottom of it, Impulse was fairly sure he could spot a small pool of lava.

“The library is open to everyone, we can just go up and visit,” Ramal explained. “If you want to see the laboratories, we’ll have to talk to someone higher up in the hierarchy. It shouldn’t be a problem, but the alchemists don’t like having anyone traipse around their laboratories without supervision.

“I’d love to see them,” Impulse said. “If it’s not too much effort.”

Ramal smiled. “It really isn’t. You should see your face, you’re looking all excited. I’m sure they’ll be happy to show us around.”

Impulse could feel himself blush a little in embarrassment. “I studied potion brewing when I was younger,” he said. “I haven’t had the time or the resources to progress past the basic potions that I needed more or less regularly, but I’d like to get back into it.”

“Oh they are going to love that.” Ramal grinned. “Come on let’s go, we’ll go see the library first and then I’m finding us someone to give us a tour through the other areas.

Impulse had to compose himself multiple times while they toured the Alchemists' Tower. Here was all the knowledge anyone could ever want, just collected in one place, and it was available to anyone who sought it out. And Ramal had been right, the alchemists were happy to talk to him and show him around, and even if they only spent a few hours with them he felt like a sponge soaking up knowledge from them. He could easily have spent weeks here, but once lunch time came around he and Ramal took their leave from the wonders of alchemy and enchanting and headed out into the city again.

Ramal took him to a coffee house for some food, and then they set out again, this time to head back into the tunnels dug into the nether rack around the central cavern.

They were mainly used for anything military, Ramal explained on the way, as well as the portals to the Overworld, the stables, anything that was not as much part of civilian life or dealt with the defence of the main city was directly connected to these tunnels.

They went to visit Ghast in the stables, where she was happily munching on some hay.

"She's a beautiful horse," Ramal said. "Looks like she's got some blood from one of ours in her."

Impulse shrugged. "She's been with me for years now, but I honestly couldn't say anything about her bloodline."

They didn’t stay long at the stables, but Impulse made sure to give Blaze some love as well before they went on.

“So what’s next?” Impulse asked as they left the stables behind and turned back into the maze of tunnels.

“I thought we might visit the training grounds. I think that’s the last place we haven’t seen.”

Impulse nodded and fell into step with him as he turned down yet another corridor.

“You’re an archer, right?” Ramal asked. “I saw your bow on your saddle. If you want to we can go to the shooting range.”

Impulse considered it for a moment. He hadn’t quite been able to keep up with his archery practice, and it itched in his fingers to take up a bow again. He grinned at Ramal and said, “I would love to.”

Tango finally found Impulse and Ramal at the shooting range in the late afternoon. When he walked in Impulse was just drawing the bow. Tango could see the way his muscles flexed as he pulled the bowstring back, his arm perfectly aligned. There was a moment where he held the tension, before he breathed out and released the arrow.

It struck the centre of the target and stuck there, right next to several more arrows. Impulse grinned and turned around, and he was about to say something to Ramal, when he caught sight of Tango by the entrance, and his grin softened into a happy smile.

Tango smiled back, helplessly, and approached them.

“Getting in some target practice?” he asked, and Impulse nodded.

“Ramal offered, and I haven’t been keeping up as much as I should have,” he said. “And the weapons master was nice enough to let me borrow a bow.”

And now that Tango looked at it he could see the form of the bow, much more curved than the one Impulse carried. It was a good bow, serviceable and standard issue for the members of the guard, but it made Tango think of something.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, quickly turning to head to the armoury, while Impulse and Ramal exchanged a confused look.

He greeted the weapons master in passing, and hurried along, deeper into the set of rooms until he reached the small side room that served as the personal armoury of the royal family. He ignored the swords on the walls, ranging from purely ceremonial to showing the signs of the battles they had been used in, and directly headed towards a chest that was tucked away in a corner.

He quickly dug through the weapons inside, until he found the bow that had been stored at the very bottom of it. The curvature was similar to the one on the standard issue bows, but the wood was of slightly better quality, and inlaid with golden designs that vaguely resembled flames. When he quickly tested it it felt perfectly fine in his hands. With a satisfied smile he got up and walked back to the shooting range, where Impulse and Ramal were still waiting for him.

He handed the bow to Impulse, and said, “Here try this one. It’s mine. But… I’ve never been one for archery. It should probably go to someone who can appreciate it more than I do.”

Impulse looked surprised, but then a smile stretched over his face and he gently took the bow from Tango’s hands.

“Thank you,” he said. “I’ll take good care of it.”

Calmly he picked up an arrow and stepped back into the shooting area, and with the same precise movements as earlier he lined up another shot and let the arrow fly into the centre of the target again. He threw them a grin over his shoulder, before he lined up three more shots in quick succession, that all landed true.

The bow seemed to belong to him much more than it ever had to Tango himself, and he could feel the warm feeling in his chest that he just started to associate with Impulse spread at the thought.

They didn’t stay long after, because Tango and Impulse were supposed to meet up with the court tailor again before meeting the queen for dinner. Tango seemed a little absent all through it, and over dinner Queen Malika looked at them like she was trying to figure something out. She asked Impulse about his and Ramal’s trip to the Alchemists’ Tower, and patiently listened even when he got a little over-excited.

Once they had finished and had wished the queen a good night they walked back to their rooms in comfortable silence. Tango kept biting his lip whenever Impulse looked over at him, as if he was worried about something, but Impulse didn't say anything about it until the door had closed behind them and they were alone.

Impulse turned so he could actually see Tango's face, and for a moment the silence stretched between them.

Finally Impulse reached out to put a hand on Tango's shoulder and asked, "Everything okay?"

Tango gave him a small smile and gently lifted Impulse's hand off his shoulder to wrap it in both of his.

"Can I...can I talk to you about something?" Tango seemed nervous, and Impulse just found himself nodding.

"Of course," he said gently.

Tango swallowed. "I...I think we better sit down for this."

They sat down, close but not touching apart from the hand Tango still held in his, and Impulse waited patiently while Tango fidgeted, looking like he was trying to figure out where to start. Impulse wanted to scoot closer and pull him in, press a kiss to his temple and tell him that he didn't have to worry, it would all be fine. But he couldn't. Maybe someday, but not right now. And so he stayed where he was and waited.

"So mother asked me to come to her earlier to talk about the succession," Tango said, his gaze entirely focused on their hands. "She...she wants me to be able to decide if I actually want to remain her heir or not. I…" Tango paused to swallow, and when he looked up at Impulse the fire of his eyes was unsteady, like a campfire flickering in the wind, as if there were too many emotions whirling in his mind. When he finally spoke again he sounded conflicted. "I always thought she'd just...name a different heir because I was gone. But...she hasn't and she still thinks it should be me." Impulse reached out with his free hand and put it on top of Tango's.

"She is your mother. What else would she think? She clearly loves you."

"I know. I just…" Tango let out a bitter laugh. "So many people here have always looked down on me and sneered because they had to show respect to a human runt like me because I'm their prince. I can't help but think that they would accept me even less as king."

Impulse was silent for a moment, and his hand squeezed Tango's where he held them. He thought back to their arrival and to all the moments since then and took a deep breath.

"I think there is a chance that you might be wrong about that," he said finally, steadily holding Tango's gaze. "I haven't been around for your childhood, but I have seen the reactions since we came here. The people here love you, Tango. They were glad to see you again, happy even. And when we went outside the palace and you thought no one recognised you...a lot of people did. But they gave you space because they respect you. I don't know who resented you when you were a child, but I don't think it was the normal people on the streets, the ones that count."

Tango swallowed, but he nodded. "I...thank you."

Impulse smiled at him and moved his hand to gently cup his cheek. "Sometimes we need others to tell us what we don't see."

Tango closed his eyes in a slow blink and leaned into Impulse's touch. When he opened them again the warm campfire was back, calm and steady, and with a love and adoration behind it that took away Impulse's breath.

Tango smiled, but there was a hint of sadness in it.

"There is more though," he said and Impulse's heart sank.

Tango could see something in Impulse's eyes shift at his words and he involuntarily tightened his grip around the hand he was still holding. He had sat in his crimson forest hideout for hours trying to figure out how to explain this and he hoped that what he was about to say would be enough. He took a deep breath and launched into his story.

"There once was a djinn queen. She was powerful and fair and her people loved her. She worked hard to make the lives of her people better, and it was through her wise leadership that they prospered. Her people had always had good trade relations with their neighbours, but got seldom involved in any other way.

“One day a young man came to the border of the realm and asked to see the queen. He was the king of the neighbouring country, and he had come to ask for help. A mysterious plague had come over his small desert kingdom, and none of the wise men in the land had been able to find a cure.

“The queen’s advisers didn’t think she should give the aid the young king so desperately needed. They thought his only aim was to steal knowledge. But the queen had looked at the young king and she had known his heart to be truthful. He only wanted to help his people. And so she ordered her wisest scholars to go with the king and study the plague and do their best to aid him and his people.

“The king was very thankful when she told him that her people would help, and promised to hold a great feast in her honour when the plague was defeated.

“And so the king set out with the scholars and they defeated the plague and healed the people. And when the time had come the king invited the queen to his palace for the feast.

“Still convinced of his good intentions she attended the feast. But she did not know that something had changed within the king, a festering jealousy at the knowledge and the prosperity of her people, and a desire to make her his. She did not expect it when he took her prisoner, and she did not expect him to know the correct way to trap a djinn.

“She had no way to escape, for even the most powerful of djinn cannot escape a djinn trap, and she had to wait helplessly while the king prepared their wedding.

“But among the king’s scholars was a man who did not think that what his king did was right. He had been one of the scholars who had researched the djinn trap under orders of the king, and he was perhaps the only one among them, who was able to break it. And while the king was planning a wedding, and the queen was sitting in her prison, waiting, the scholar got to work. He had to be cautious so no one would find out about his plans, but he managed to finish it just in time, and freed the queen.

“The queen fled, riding the winds of the desert until she reached her home. Her imprisonment had taken its toll on her, and she had to take some time to recover. She used that time to plan her revenge on the king, and to prepare her people for war. After all she could not leave the king’s crimes unpunished.

“When she came, she came with storm and fire. She came with an army of djinn, and all the power at their disposal.

“But at the height of battle, when the flames were hottest around her, the scholar who had freed her walked into the maelstrom of destruction to find her.

“She was at the centre of it, her rage and her thirst for revenge turning the sand into glass below her feet. But the scholar had looked at her when she had first come to the king’s palace, and he had known her.

“When he approached her she was almost gone. He knew there was a possibility that he might die, but he kept walking until he stood in front of her and looked into her eyes and somewhere deep down he found a sliver of the queen she was. It was the hope of that sliver that he held onto as he asked her to stop.

“It was that sliver that looked into his eyes and knew him. Not the scholar she had never even met, but his soul, and it was that which gave her pause. He held her gaze, even as she almost burned him, and it was that gaze that made her remember. It was this connection between two souls who _knew_ each other without ever knowing each other that pulled her back.

“The flames died around them, and the queen collapsed into the scholar’s arms, and whatever anyone tried, he would not leave her side until she woke up and pulled him into her arms.

“It is said to this day that a djinn’s soul has a counterpart in the world, and that when they find each other nothing will be able to separate them. They will feel like they have known each other all their life, and they have, even if they have only just met.”

He trailed off, swallowing and licking his suddenly dry lips. He could see Impulse work it out, his eyes widening when he understood what Tango was, very clumsily, trying to say.

“I… this is a lot,” Impulse said finally.

Tango nodded. “I know,” he said. “But I want you to understand that it is true.”

Impulse searched his eyes, for what Tango did not know, but then he sighed. “I know. But I… I need some time and space to think about this.”

“Take as much time and space as you need. I will still be waiting for you,” Tango said seriously. “Take…take the bedroom tonight, I’ll sleep out here.”

Impulse looked at him as if he was crazy. “I won’t leave you sleeping out here just because I need space to think. It’s still your bedroom.”

“No,” Tango shook his head. “Take the bedroom for yourself tonight. I…I don’t want to make this harder than it is.”

“I really can’t stop you from sleeping out here, can I?” Impulse sighed. “Alright. Then I will take the bedroom.”

Tango nodded and finally let go of Impulse’s hand.

Impulse smiled at him. “I’ll bring you a blanket before bed.”

He disappeared into the bedroom just to reappear with the promised blanket, and when he had made sure that Tango really didn’t need anything else, he wished him a good night and the door softly closed behind him.

Tango remained where he was, watching the door for a moment before he sighed. He had to trust Impulse. Like the scholar in the story had trusted the queen.

He pulled the blanket around himself and laid down. He could try to catch some sleep at least.


	4. Sleepless Night

Impulse guessed that it was around Midnight when he finally gave up on sleeping. It felt weird to lie in this bed without Tango on the other side, inevitably migrating close enough in his sleep to pull Impulse close and add his blanket to his own pile. Maybe he should have been glad not to have the additional warmth of his body in the already hot room, but he had found that he didn't mind the heat.

Sighing he turned around onto his back. What Tango had told him earlier wouldn't leave his head. He felt like it should freak him out more than it did, but the truth was that it felt right. Like a truth he had forgotten and was just remembering. When Tango had told that story, he had immediately seen himself in it; had immediately known how the scholar had felt. And he had known that he would do the same for Tango in a heartbeat.

He had said he needed space, but if he was completely honest with himself he had accepted it right at that moment, and now he regretted asking for space because he couldn't sleep.

With a heavy sigh he got out of bed and walked into the central room. Tango was right where he left him, the blanket pulled around him and tossing and turning in his sleep. Impulse had to smile as he approached as silently as possible. He gently pushed at Tango's shoulder and he grumbled in his sleep as he moved just enough for Impulse to slide under the blanket with him. He managed to do it without waking him, and when Impulse wrapped his arm around him and snuggled close, Tango let out a sigh in his sleep and relaxed. Impulse smiled into his chest as he closed his eyes. This was much better.

Waking was slow and Tango only became gradually aware of his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was that there was something warm in his arms, and it took him a moment before his brain caught up and he realised that it was Impulse, snuggled into his chest and holding on to him in his sleep. Tango's heart soared, and he couldn't hold back a giddy smile.

He could feel Impulse's arm tighten around him a little and then Impulse mumbled, "Go back to sleep, it's still early."

Tango smiled and when he bent his head he could just about manage to kiss the top of Impulse's head.

Smiling he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

They got up eventually, if only because they needed to eat. Impulse was still bleary eyed when he extricated himself from Tango's arms, and Tango had to smile fondly. He loved that he got to see him like this; loved that he was the one who got to hold Impulse in his arms at night. Impulse had to look slightly up at him once they were standing and for a moment Tango thought he might move in and kiss him. He held his breath, but then all Impulse did was smile before he moved away.

They had breakfast, once again interrupted by Ramal, who took one look at them and said, “Oh great you finally talked.”

“I guess we did,” Impulse said, shooting a smile at Tango.

“Just in time for the big event this evening then.” Ramal smiled and sat down with them. “I met a servant on the way here by the way. Your mother wants you to come to her study again once you’re finished.”

Tango nodded. “I wanted to go see her anyways.”

He shot Impulse a look, and got a smile in return, pride in his eyes, and at that moment Tango knew that he could face anything as long as Impulse had his back.

Once Tango was gone, Ramal turned to Impulse, a gleeful glint in his eyes, and said, “So how bad was he?”

Impulse laughed. “Well he told me a fairy tale first,” he said, unable to keep the fond smile off his face.

“Ah yes, that’s Tango. Always picking the most roundabout way to explain things.” Ramal smiled at Impulse. “I’m glad you found each other.”

“So am I.” Impulse looked towards the door Tango had left through and smiled. They should probably still talk about some things, after all Impulse hadn’t actually told Tango what he felt, but he also knew that they both felt it already.

Queen Malika kept Tango occupied all day, but Ramal kept him company. They went to the shooting range again so Impulse could get more familiar with the bow Tango gave him, had lunch in the city, and then they sat around Tango’s and Impulse’s rooms, playing games until Tango returned.

When he walked in and saw them he smiled and sat down next to Impulse, leaning in until their shoulders were pressed together. Impulse smiled at his playing cards and leaned into Tango. He had missed him all day. Not overwhelmingly so, but a steady low ache, just enough to remind him that Tango wasn’t by his side.

The tailor came by soon after, which Ramal took as his cue to leave, and then it was all a flurry of getting dressed and last alterations being made and finally getting ready for the evening.

Tango was wearing dark brown trousers, with a long orange shirt that opened enough in the front to show off his chest. The long coat above it was made of a fabric with intricate golden designs, held together by a black belt with small golden flames stitched into it that was slung low around his hips. It made Impulse’s mouth go dry. The shade of gold complemented his hair and his eyes perfectly. He looked regal, Impulse thought, every inch the crown prince he was.

The image was shattered when he looked at Impulse and his mouth fell open.

Impulse shifted from one leg to the other under his gaze, self-conscious all of a sudden. Tango’s eyes trailed up and down his body, from the beige pants over the perfectly fitting long jacket with its shawl crossing from his hip up to his shoulder, all held in a dark emerald colour, until they reached the golden lace design on his right shoulder. He stepped in and reached out to trail his fingers over it, swallowing.

“I didn’t think they’d...” He started, voice hoarse.

“Last minute request from your mother apparently,” Impulse said, smiling.

“Did they…did they explain why?”

Impulse shook his head and Tango let his fingers rest at the edge of the lace work.

“Only the royal family wears gold. She has essentially marked you as part of the family with this.”

There was something unsure in his tone, and Impulse didn’t need him to voice the question. He reached out, cupping Tango’s cheek. They both started to lean in at the same time, but before their lips could meet there was a knock on the door, and they moved apart.

Tango sighed before he called out, “We’re coming!”

Impulse smiled gently at the longing look he gave him.

“Later,” he promised, and Tango nodded before he stepped away and took Impulse’s hand.

“Let’s go,” he said and Impulse squeezed his hand as he followed him to the door.

Tango was distracted all evening. He did his best to focus, but his eyes kept being drawn to Impulse, who was sticking close to Ramal while Tango was stuck with his mother, talking to a seemingly endless number of important people. He was glad that Ramal was taking care of Impulse because he could see even from afar that he was a little awkward, and Tango knew from experience that Ramal was charming enough to handle the worst of what was sure to be a lot of curious but derisive questions.

By the time Tango's mother let him go, Impulse had quietly vanished somewhere and Ramal was off to the side talking to someone. Ramal caught his frown and subtly nodded towards an opening in the hedge not far from where he was standing. Tango nodded and slipped past and into the gardens behind.

It didn't take him long to find Impulse. He was just off to the side, in an alcove, watching a soulfire brazier as if he was deep in thought. Tango sat down next to him, and gently picked up his hand from where it was lying on the bench between them. Impulse looked over and smiled.

"It can be a bit overwhelming, I know," Tango said.

Impulse squeezed his hand. "It's fine." There was a pause and then, "I get why you left."

Tango swallowed and released Impulse's hand to wrap an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close.

He kissed his temple and said, "Ramal shut them down, didn't he? He used to do that for me."

Impulse chuckled. "He's a good friend."

"He is."

They lapsed into silence, watching the fire for a moment before Impulse asked, "The queen and the scholar from your story. What happened to them?"

Tango smiled. "Well he went back with her, and they were happy. He studied redstone, while she ruled over her people. But their son was the light of their lives. That's how my father always told it." He could feel Impulse lean more into him.

"I can see that," he whispered.

"I wish you could have met him," Tango said, staring into the fire, deep in thought. "He was kind. He always loved learning. Opening the library for everyone was his idea actually. He just wanted everyone to have the chance to learn. It was he who first taught me about redstone.” He paused to swallow, voice heavy with emotion when he continued. “I almost abandoned it after he died. I was so angry but… in the end I couldn’t leave it alone. Part of why I left in the end was that I wanted to learn more to finish what he had started before he died. To understand what he did wrong, what the mistake was that killed him.” He closed his eyes and took a deep ragged breath. He could feel Impulse wrap his arms around him and hold him tight, while he waited for Tango to continue.

“When I finally did it and completed his project I just… felt empty,” he said, voice muffled a little by Impulse’s shoulder, not daring to look up, because he knew that whatever he would see in Impulse’s eyes had the potential to break him. “Here it was, the goal that had driven me and it just… was done. I struggled with that for a while, until X found me and I became a Hermit. Even then it took me some time to go back what I was doing best. If it hadn’t been for Mumbo having trouble with his iron farm, I don’t know if I had gone back to building them. And if Zed hadn’t challenged me to find a creative way to do it… they truly pulled me back, all of them, and I don’t know where I would be without them.”

He didn’t even realise how tightly he was clutching Impulse until he was gently pushed away so Impulse could look into his eyes.

He took Tango’s face in both of his hands and gave him a serious look.

“You would have preserved,” he said. “You would have found something else to live for. I know you Tango. It would have taken time but you would have made your peace with it eventually.”

“You can’t know that.” Tango’s voice was barely a whisper, but Impulse immediately shook his head.

“But I can. My soul knows yours and there is not a doubt in my mind that you would have made it.”

Tango had to swallow. It was…he had no idea what to reply to that. He wasn’t sure that there were any words to express his feelings and so he did the only thing he could think of and got up, pulling Impulse with him until they were both standing, the soulfire burning next to them, their bodies pressed together. It almost seemed as if the light had changed, as if the fire was burning brighter, but Tango was sure he was imagining it. He didn’t have time to think about it anyways, because Impulse was smiling and Tango leaned in and finally kissed him.

Impulse met him, still smiling, but then his lips moved against Tango’s, somehow perfectly in synch. He could feel Impulse’s hands slide up his chest until he was gripping at his shoulders, his own arms wrapped around Impulse’s waist. It was perfect and when Impulse moved impossibly closer, Tango met him eagerly, tilting his head to fit their mouths even more perfectly together. Impulse's hands moved along his shoulders until they reached his neck, fingers sliding into his hair and holding him in place, giving him no room to escape had he even wanted to. His tongue darted between Impulse's eagerly opening lips and his first taste of him hit him all at once. There was a hint of the food that had been going around all evening, layered with the taste of the juice Tango had seen him drink, but most importantly it was Impulse. They were close enough now that even through the thick, heavy smell of the Nether itself, muted as it was by the vegetation around them, Tango could smell the slightest hint of Impulse's own body scent, clean and just a bit musky. He could get lost in this sensation he thought; just drown in it and never make it back to the surface. It felt like his entire being was singing with the rightness of it. It was home. It was where he belonged. It was where he wanted to spend the rest of his life.

They had to come up for air eventually, but neither of them moved away. Tango leaned his forehead against Impulse's.

"I've thought about that all day," he admitted, opening his eyes.

Impulse leaned in to press a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth before he smiled at him, and said, "Me too."

Tango would have loved nothing more than to sneak around the party and slip back into the palace and to their rooms, but he knew they couldn't. Not when the whole point of this thing was to celebrate his return. What he could do though was intertwine his fingers with Impulse's and spend the rest of the evening until they could disappear with him by his side.

Impulse was still a little awkward around all the nobles, but Tango had enough experience with this for both of them. He put on his politest smile and kept everything Stress and False had ever told him about how they dealt with these things at the back of his mind, all of Stress's well-placed barbs hidden behind her adorable face, and False's way of hiding her derision under the stoic face of a knight. They dealt with this a lot more than he did, and if they could do it, he could as well.

He was glad that there wasn't dancing involved at least. It made it a lot easier to finally slip away. He caught his mother's eyes right before they were about to disappear back out into the gardens, looking to everyone like they were just about to go have a private moment, and she smiled knowingly and gave him the barest of nods before focusing back on the representative of the merchants' guild she was talking to.

Years of sneaking around the palace and getting into trouble with Ramal made the trip fairly easy, and no one intercepted them until the door to their rooms closed behind them.

Tango released Impulse's hand for the first time since their kiss in the gardens, but only to take his face in his hands and kiss him, slow and languidly, and with the knowledge that he could take all the time in the world. Impulse's hands came to rest on his waist as he smiled into the kiss.

When they parted, Tango smiled. He caressed Impulse's cheek before letting his hands rest on his shoulders.

"Have I told you yet that you look absolutely amazing?" He asked.

"I could say the same about you." Impulse pulled him closer and Tango was only too willing to lean in again for another kiss. This he could definitely get used to.

They spent most of the next morning lying around in bed, Impulse nestled into Tango's arms and dozing on and off. He was comfortable there, and with Tango holding him like this he could have easily spent all day in bed.

However, they were planning to leave the next morning to continue their journey to the Hermitage, which meant that they would have to make at least some preparations and get everything packed and at least have a rough idea about their travel route.

Impulse could tell that there was something bittersweet in leaving for Tango, and he knew without Tango voicing it that he had realised how much he actually missed this place when he wasn't here. And really there was something magical about it. Not just because the djinn had magic at their disposal, but rather in the way it seemed so...removed. Time seemed to pass entirely different, slower somehow, as if this was a place in stasis while the world around it moved on. And Impulse knew that it didn't work like that but if anyone had told him that in the Overworld years had passed while they had been here, he wouldn't have been surprised.

Tango took him to the map room after a breakfast that was so late it could have been considered an early lunch, and they discussed the way to travel bent over maps together, weighing the merits of different routes.

Queen Malika found them there, shortly after lunch, and after watching them for a moment with a fond smile on her face, she approached the table, and said, "Have you considered traveling in this realm for as long as possible?" She laughed at their surprised expressions. "Not all of our portals are close to the city. I'm sure we can find one that gets you closer to your destination than the one you came in through."

They settled on the portal furthest to the Northwest of the djinns' realm, right at the edge of the endless wastes where the Nether turned truly hostile and dangerous, and where even the djinn only kept small mining communities that gathered resources that had already been exploited in the more central areas.

"We will have to cross right through Pesara," Tango said, frowning. "King Dick has never liked the Hermits, I doubt he'll like us traveling through."

Malika raised an eyebrow at him. "Then don't travel as Hermits. You don't have to travel as crown prince, but you are of this realm and we are known to travel. Travel as a djinn nobleman. I have dealt with King Dick before, he would not risk my ire.”

Tango blinked and said, “That…might work actually. There’s no guarantee that we’ll make it all the way through, but it is worth a try. And it will make the journey shorter.”

He shot Impulse a look. “You think we should do it? It would mean a day of Nether travel before we get back to the Overworld.”

Impulse shrugged. “If it gets us there faster, I think we should risk it.”

“Good.” Tango nodded. “Then we’ll travel northwest through the Nether, cross through Pesara and then Finis and then we should reach the Hermitlands. It will save us about two weeks from our original route, maybe even three."

Queen Malika nodded. "I will arrange anything I can to help you on your journey."

"Thank you, mother."

She answered Tango's smile with her own before she got up. "Now go enjoy your afternoon. You'll be glad you did when you're on the road."

There was something knowing about her smile, and Impulse couldn't help but fidget a little. Still, she was right, it would be their last chance to relax in a while.

He was woken up by Tango trailing kisses along his jaw, his teeth scraping gently across his skin occasionally.

Impulse made a small sound in his throat and Tango chuckled.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," he said softly, right into Impulse's ear, and despite being only barely awake, Impulse couldn't suppress a shiver.

Tango's lips brushed along his jaw again, back down towards his chin. He kissed the corner of Impulse's mouth first before he pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

Impulse smiled into it, slow and sleepy. He ran his hand through Tango's hair and opened his eyes. It was still messy from sleeping, sticking up even worse than usual where Impulse's fingers had brushed through it. The soft smile on Tango's face made his breath catch in his throat and because he could he pulled him down and into another kiss.

He wished they had more time, wished they could spend another morning in bed, kissing and cuddling and talking about anything that came to mind. But they were leaving, and late mornings would be out of the question for a while.

Tango was still smiling at him as he said, "I know. But we really have to get up so we can leave for the portal."

"I didn't say anything." Impulse's voice was still rough with sleep, and he cleared his throat.

There was an amused twinkle in Tango's eyes as he replied, "You didn't have to."

Tango released him and when he got up he pulled Impulse along with him. "Come on," he said. "Let's enjoy the proper bathroom one last time before we have to get ready."

Impulse laughed and let himself be pulled along.

Malika was already waiting for them when they reached the stables, she was talking to the horse master, petting Ghast a little absentmindedly. She turned around when Ghast noticed them, a smile on her face, though it was tinged with a hint of sadness.

"I wanted to send you off myself," she said, stepping towards them. "I doubt I will see either of you again soon."

"We'll try to visit," Tango said, as he pulled her into a hug.

"I'll hold you to that." She took a step back and handed him the documents she was holding. "This should be proof enough that you're a djinn noble and that you both are under my protection, if you should need it."

Tango nodded and slid them into his pack. "Thank you," he said, but Malika shook her head.

"There is no need to thank me. But I have one last thing for you." She reached into a pocket of her skirt, and pulled out a ring, hanging from a long chain of gold.

Tango took it cautiously and after looking at it, he gave her a surprised look.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes." Malika’s expression softened. "He would have wanted you to have it.”

Tango swallowed. "I...thank you. It really means a lot."

She pulled him into another hug. "He loved you just like I still do. And I feel better knowing you carry a piece of him with you to remind you of that."

Impulse couldn't see Tango's face, but Malika met his eyes when he hugged her back tightly and he knew that this truly meant a lot to both of them. When Tango released her, she stepped around him and pulled Impulse into a hug.

He was so surprised that it took him a moment to catch up and hug her back, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Take care of him for me," she said. "He can get a little reckless." She stepped away and smiled at him. "You will always have a place here. And if you ever want to learn more from our scholars and potion masters, you are more than welcome to."

“Thank you,” he said. “I mean it.” He had to swallow, and he didn’t know how to convey exactly how much it meant to him. But Malika’s gentle smile told him he didn’t have to. And when she stepped to the side, Tango was right there, pulling him into a tight hug of his own, his arms a solid weight around his shoulders, one hand sliding into Impulse’s hair as he pulled him close. Impulse smiled into his shoulder and squeezed him back. When he released him Tango took his hand and laced their fingers together.

“Let’s go then,” Tango said. “We still got a day’s journey ahead of us.”

Impulse nodded. He was reluctant to release Tango’s hand, but the tunnels weren’t quite broad enough for both of them plus Blaze and Ghast to fit without blocking the entire width, and so he took Ghast’s reigns from the horse master instead.

With a last smile for Queen Malika they left the stables, horses in tow. It was time to start their journey.


	5. The World Ahead

They walked through the tunnels around the city, Impulse and Ghast following Tango and Blaze until they reached the gate to leave the city itself.

Ramal was waiting there for them, holding his own horse by the reigns.

"I should have known you would be the one to accompany us," Tango said, pulling Ramal into a one-armed hug.

Ramal shrugged. "I swore an oath," he said. "I won't risk breaking it."

Tango sighed and shook his head. "I shouldn't have made you do that."

"It was the sensible thing to do. Besides, I chose to do it."

"Still…"

"It's just today and then you will have left and it will be done." Ramal rolled his eyes. "Now come on we still have to get to the portal."

He mounted his horse and Tango and Impulse followed suit, following behind him as he rode out the gate and into the Nether opening up behind it.

The road led them through open terrain where it could, protected by brick and glass occasionally to shield travellers from anything that might attack them. It cut through forests and bridged across lava lakes and valleys of soul sand, occasionally branching off into villages or disappearing into the distance.

Other travellers were sparse for the most part. They met the occasional wandering merchant, and people travelling from one village to the other.

The road was wide enough for two horses in each direction passing each other and Ghast quickly fell into step next to Blaze, with Ramal riding in front of them. Impulse caught Tango watching him with a soft smile as he couldn't stop looking at the landscape around them. He had never seen the Nether look so alive before. The forests were the same as anywhere else he had been, but for some reason even without seeing any of the usual Nether dwellers, it felt so much more alive. There were lived in and used structures, people moving about and doing their everyday jobs. Impulse had never thought about the Nether as anything but a veritable hellscape, but seeing it like this it was beautiful.

He caught Tango's eyes, and he saw how much he loved his people. There was such a deep love there, a will to protect this land and its inhabitants. Impulse knew without a doubt that he would support Tango in that. He had only spent a few days here, but he couldn't help but love the people and the land with a fierceness that surprised him. But he had never felt as much at home and as welcome as he had here.

He saw Tango fiddle with the ring his mother had given him, absentmindedly turning it around on its chain with one hand.

"It was your father's wasn't it?" Impulse asked.

Tango nodded. "It's an astronomical ring. It has all these symbols for stars and planets etched into it. Not that I know how to use it, I'm hopeless with things like that." He laughed a little embarrassed. "He tried to teach me, but I was too used to having a ceiling over my head and no natural day and night cycle. It was only when I needed it to survive that I learned enough to not get lost while travelling or to know how much time I have left before night falls."

Impulse had to laugh. "At least you know that much. There is hope for you yet."

"No, no, I don't think I can do more." Tango grinned. "Trust me, Zed tried. I just have to rely on others to know more than I do."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Ramal called back over his shoulder, the edge of his grin just about visible. "The things you can't be bothered to learn properly are varied and numerous."

"I'm not that bad. I just have different interests from you."

Ramal just laughed.

They had reached another road that branched off the main one, and Ramal steered his horse down that way.

"It's about time for lunch anyways, you can tell us all about how you actually know things while we're eating."

They had lunch at a small village, not far from the main road. It was cosy, with good food, and Ramal and Tango bickered throughout it in a weird contest of trying to prove they knew things the other didn't. Impulse let them be, listening while he ate his food.

He was on the way back from the bathroom when someone tugged at the leg of his pants and when he looked down, a small child was looking up at him, a bit shy, but curiosity clear in their eyes.

He squatted down with a friendly smile and asked, "What's the matter?"

The child shot a look in the direction of their table before they whispered at him, "The man at the table, is he the prince? My mum says he is, but we're not supposed to ask him."

"He is," Impulse said with a chuckle.

The child's eyes widened. "Is he back? Because my mama said he went away and made the queen very sad."

"He…he talked to the queen and she isn't sad anymore," Impulse said after a moment. "But he has friends waiting for him in the Overworld and he has to go back to them."

"Friends are important," the child said, nodding earnestly. "It's not good to keep them waiting."

"I'll tell him that." Impulse smiled.

"Yes, please that would be nice." They hesitated for a moment but then they grinned and quickly ran off.

Impulse chuckled as he got back up and walked back to their table where Tango and Ramal were somehow still bickering. He sat down with a fond smile on his face, and Tango's arm immediately wrapped around his waist, even while he was trying to explain the importance of ice to Ramal, who from the sounds of it had never even seen it in his life.

The rest of their journey was uneventful, the road emptying even more the closer they got to the edge of the kingdom, and the fewer settlements there were. Ramal fell back to ride beside Impulse and was happy to explain anything Impulse was interested in. And as they rode along, now that he was looking Impulse saw the recognition in the eyes of the people they met or rode past, the way their expressions softened when they recognised Tango. Even out here they knew who he was, and more than one of them gave Impulse a considering look, as if they had their suspicions about what he was to their prince.

By the time they reached the portal, night had fallen in the Overworld, and they decided to take rooms at the inn that was conveniently close by to rest before they would set out the next morning.

They sat together and talked for a while, but they all agreed that it was better to sleep early. Impulse pressed close to Tango in their bed, his face tucked into the crook of Tango’s neck. Tomorrow they would have to go back to the real world it felt like, or maybe they had to leave the real world. He wasn’t quite sure which. But as he closed his eyes, Tango’s arms wrapped around him, he cared about nothing but the present.

Their night hadn't been as long as it could have been, Tango decided when they were already on the road. Impulse was still yawning, and Tango could feel his own body being precariously close to getting tired as well. It probably wasn't ideal, but they wouldn't reach the border of Pesara until the next day, and the road through the desert was safe enough, Ramal had said.

It always took a bit to adjust to the sky after spending some time in the Nether, but Tango realised he had missed it. As much as the Nether was still home, he had come to love the open skies of the Overworld, and the way it felt less oppressive than the Nether ceiling. There was a sense of freedom in it and he valued that.

He kept an eye on their surroundings all day, always looking out to make sure they were really safe, but there was little to see. There were a few ruins in the distance occasionally, old settlements that had been abandoned. Some had simply been taken over by the desert, the lack of water and the sand making living there impossible, for others their water source had probably just run out. There seemed to be more of them the closer they got to the edge of the desert and Tango had to ask himself if it was truly expanding or if there was some other reason for it.

He shook off the thought as the walls of Hafa came into view. It was the last city before the border with Pesara, a buzzing trade hub, and well-fortified. There was a small djinn garrison stationed there, one of the few of its kind in the Overworld. Relations with Pesara were usually friendly, but the djinn knew better than to underestimate the greed of their neighbours. A show of strength, even if it was a small one, was always better to dissuade others.

His eyes trailed over the fortifications as they drew nearer, years of training kicking in without a second thought. The walls were in good condition as far as he could tell. There were guards patrolling along the top. Most of them looked human, but Tango could spot the tell-tale glint of gold in the sun on some of them, marking them as djinn guards. They were spaced out further than their human counterparts, but that was to be expected.

"All up to standard?" Impulse asked, amusement in his voice.

Tango turned towards him, caught. "I wasn't…"

"Yes, you were." Impulse was laughing openly now, but when Tango rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously, he reached out and took his hand to squeeze it. "It's fine," he added. "It makes sense to know how a city is guarded before you go in, especially if you know you might have to run any moment."

Tango shrugged. "I know I won't have to run here. It's just training, I guess."

Impulse nodded. "So are they up to standard?" he asked again, and this time Tango had to laugh along with him.

"As far as I can see they are."

"So no need to go give them a piece of your mind." Impulse grinned.

"Oh dear no."

They lapsed back into comfortable silence as they got closer to the gates, finally dismounting before they joined the queue of those who wanted entrance into the city. It was a busy day, but the guards at the gate were relaxed, letting everyone in with minimal controls. There were djinn stationed at the gates as well, hanging back and leaving the controls to the human guards. They were ready to step in at a moment's notice, but for the normal travellers like them there was no need to. Tango handed the guard the documents that identified him as a lesser djinn noble, and Impulse as his companion. As safe as he thought they would be in Hafa, it was easier to stay under the radar, and should anyone try to find proof later that they were not who they said they were, there would be a seamless track from their entry into Hafa. Tango had learned that lesson the hard way by ways of a stupid mistake and a several hour long lecture from Ex.

They hadn’t gotten far away from the city gate when Tango saw two things. The first was the glimpse of a familiar-looking figure vanishing around a corner. The second was the captain of the djinn garrison weaving through the crowd towards them. Tango sighed. So much for staying under the radar.

To his great relief the captain didn't bow on the open street. He gave a respectful nod of his head, and said, "Welcome to Hafa, my prince."

"Captain Haris," Tango said. "What a pleasure."

"I gather that you don't want your presence here to be known. But I have arranged rooms for you and your companion to stay in, and I would like to offer an invitation to dinner."

Tango exchanged a look with Impulse, who just shrugged, and had to hold back a sigh. He wasn't exactly in the mood to deal with Haris, not when he could spend the evening with Impulse, and not if the figure he had seen truly was who he thought they were, but he couldn't exactly ignore the invitation.

"It would be our honour," he said with a polite smile.

From the surprised look that flickered over his face, Haris hadn't expected them to accept, and Tango couldn't help but feel a little smug about it. At least he would suffer as well.

Haris recovered quickly and smoothly changed the topic to the rooms he had secured for them. He led them through the city and past the entrance to the market district on to a slightly wealthier-looking area, where he stopped at a guest house. It looked nice, catered to wealthy travellers, and most likely more expensive than anything Tango would have picked.

They were led into a nice, clean courtyard, and were introduced to the keeper of the guesthouse. She was a matronly djinn woman with kind eyes that gave them a considering look when Haris introduced them. Tango was fairly sure she recognised him, but she didn't say anything, and just called for her son to take care of their horses and after Haris said his goodbyes and promised to pick them up for dinner, she led them to a small suite of rooms on the top floor.

"Captain Haris asked me to prepare two rooms for you," she explained on the way. "But he didn't tell me you belong together so you will have to make do with the big suite." There was a mischievous glint in her eyes when she stopped Tango from even offering to pay for the additional expense. "No, no, don't worry about it. Haris insisted on paying so he can pay for this as well."

Impulse chuckled next to him, and even Tango had to let out a startled laugh.

"Are you sure he will pay?" He asked, still smiling.

"Ah you really care, don't you? Just like you should in your position." She smiled at him. "He knows better than to not give me what he owes. Anyways, this is yours." She opened the door and led them into a small room that opened onto a balcony that looked out over a lush, green garden.

"That door leads to the bedroom, and through this one is the bathroom," their host explained, as she pointed out the doors that faced each other across the room. "And when you know when you will leave I will make sure to bring breakfast up here for you."

"Thank you," Tango said, with a warm smile. "We'll let you know."

"Good. Then I'll leave you alone until the good captain comes back, I'm sure you want to get cleaned up before that."

She left the room, closing the door behind her.

They dropped their things off in the bedroom, and headed to the bathroom in silent agreement. They had been on the road most of the day, with sand and dust clinging to their clothes and skin. The bathtub was barely large enough to fit them both, but after riding all day neither of them cared, and when Impulse leaned against Tango's chest in the water, humming contently there was nowhere Tango would rather be.

They took their time. It was still early enough that they could, and if it hadn't been for the water they could have both just fallen asleep like this. Impulse was already getting drowsy when Tango dropped a kiss on his shoulder and got him to move so he could wash out his hair. Impulse hummed when Tango ran his fingers through it, and when he was done, Impulse turned his head just enough to capture Tango's lips in a kiss.

Tango smiled into it, and when Impulse leaned back again he looked at him for a moment before he said, "I love you."

"I know," Impulse said with a soft smile of his own. "I love you, too."

He pulled back and got up and out of the bath, and for a moment Tango allowed himself to just watch. Impulse was lean, his muscles defined by hard work, his skin several shades lighter where it wasn't usually exposed to the sun. Impulse wrapped a towel around his hips and raised an eyebrow when he turned around and caught Tango watching.

"Like what you see?" He asked, lips pulling up into a teasing smile.

Tango laughed and since Impulse was just close enough, he reached out and put a hand on his hip to pull him closer again. Impulse came easily, and bent over Tango, a fond smile on his lips until Tango slid a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him in for another kiss.

Impulse used his hand on Tango's shoulder to balance himself, and tilted his head just so to deepen the kiss, a development Tango was only too happy to comply with.

He felt like he would melt, boneless, his toes curling in the water, but he didn't dare to sink further into it for fear of making Impulse overbalance. But he couldn't push into the kiss either, Impulse had all the control here, and he didn't let Tango up one bit. It was exhilarating and all Tango could do was focus on Impulse's lips on his, on Impulse's tongue in his mouth, on Impulse's hand on this shoulder keeping him down. He somehow managed to find enough air in his lungs to let out a cut-off groan.

Impulse let him go with a breathless chuckle, his pupils blown wide, and his chest heaving, and if Tango didn’t have to catch his own breath he would have smirked smugly.

But instead he pulled Impulse back in for another, shorter, kiss, and murmured against his lips, “The things I would do right now if we had time.”

There was another breathless laugh from Impulse, but he finally took a step back again, and said, "If only. But you should get out of there now."

Tango sighed heavily, but he got out of the water and took the towel Impulse handed him.

They were crossing over from the bathroom to the bedroom when there was a knock on the door, and Tango froze. He tilted his head, listening to the pattern and how it repeated, which earned him a curious look from Impulse. He shook his head with a smile, and went to open the door.

The swing at his head was anticipated, and he caught the red-clad hand that was about to connect with his face easily. He smoothly stepped to the side and pulled the person attached to it inside, where they landed in a smooth roll and got to their feet.

Tango closed the door again and turned towards them, one eyebrow raised. "You're still off."

"You're still too casual," they shot back, throwing back the hood of their cloak.

"I did fine," Tango said, rolling his eyes.

He turned to Impulse who gave both of them confused looks.

"Impulse, this is Ex. Ex, this is Impulse."

Ex's grin was barely visible underneath his helmet. "Good to see he convinced you to come."

"I am...confused right now." Impulse shook his head. "What was that all about?"

Tango laughed. "Ex takes great pride in the fact that he can get into any place he wants. Except one. He has never made it into the heartland of the djinn."

"I'll still make it one day," Ex grumbled. "Anyways. I heard you were in town, so I thought I'd check in. There's a lot of rumours flying around."

"Ah, news travel fast in these parts." Tango shrugged.

Ex sat down, and raised an eyebrow. "Do tell."

"Can we get dressed first?" Tango gestured at the towel he had wrapped around his hips.

"Be my guest." Ex shrugged.

Tango rolled his eyes at him, and quickly steered Impulse, whose expression had changed from confusion to amusement into the bedroom, letting the door fall closed behind him.

"He sure is something," Impulse said, a smile playing around his lips.

"He is." Tango had to smile as well. "He's our spymaster. Sort of. Always out there making sure to gather what information we need to survive. He was the one who brought the rumours about you to Xisuma."

Impulse stepped closer, smiling at him. "So I guess I have to thank him."

"I guess so."

Tango pulled him in the rest of the way and when Impulse leaned in to kiss him he was already waiting for him.

Ex smiled when Tango told him that he had reconnected with his mother.

"That's good news. I'm glad for you." He looked between them. "So what's with the rumours I hear about you two?"

Tango exchanged a look with Impulse and shrugged. "Depends on what you're hearing."

"Rumour on the street has it the djinn prince brought his soulmate with him. Something practically unheard of for non-djinn children of djinn apparently. It's been causing quite the uproar amongst the local djinn."

"They're gossipy as ever, I see." Tango let out an amused snort. "But they're right."

Ex honed in on Impulse. "You seem to take this well."

Impulse shrugged. "I've had a few days to adjust."

"Still that's...quite the revelation."

Tango was watching Ex's face, trying to figure out what he was going for, but he could feel the way Impulse tensed and shifted slightly.

"It was," Impulse said. "But I know what I feel and I know that I have never felt any surer about anything in my life."

Ex watched him a moment before he nodded. "I can see that."

Tango sighed. "Back off, Ex. I'm old enough to know what I'm doing."

"I was just making sure." Ex raised his hands in a defensive motion.

"It's fine, really."

"You better tell Stress before she gets to him," Ex said with a smirk.

Tango had to laugh, and Impulse relaxed next to him.

"So if you're here, I guess you're planning on crossing through Pesara," Ex said, turning serious.

Tango nodded. "It's the shortest way. And before you say anything, we have our story covered."

"Just be cautious. I haven't heard much out of Pesara recently but I don't trust them. And with Bdubs still gone…" He trailed off and sighed. "I wish I had more for you."

Tango leaned forward and put a hand on Ex's arm. "Don't worry about us. There's perks to being heir of the djinn queen. We're not traveling as Hermits, and not even Dick would dare to cross my mother by attacking one of her nobles."

"I'll have to trust that it works." Ex nodded.

He was about to say more when he suddenly looked to the door. "I think I should go. The good captain is here," he said, and before either of them could wish him goodbye he disappeared with a small vwhoop.

Impulse looked startled but there was no time for Tango to explain because at the next moment there was another knock on the door.

There was no pattern this time, it was just a hard, precise knock. Tango got up with a sigh and opened.

Captain Haris was standing outside, hand already raised for another knock. There was something tense about him, some barely suppressed emotion, but Tango didn't care to figure it out. Instead he smiled, and said, "Good evening Captain Haris. We've been waiting for you."

He heard Impulse's steps behind him, and a moment later he joined them, a polite smile on his face. "It's good to see you again Captain Haris," he said in such a perfect imitation of the way Ramal greeted people he didn't want to deal with that Tango almost double-checked if his friend wasn't with them after all.

He watched as Haris gave Impulse a sharp look, most likely familiar enough with Ramal to recognise what he was doing, before he quickly schooled his features.

"If you would walk with me," he said, stepping back smoothly, just waiting long enough for them to be sure they were following him down the hallway.

Tango shot Impulse a considering look when he took Tango's hand. There was a stubborn edge to his expression as he looked at Haris' back that Tango couldn't interpret. But when Impulse looked over at him, it softened, and he put it at the back of his mind in favour of focusing on navigating the conversation with the captain.

Impulse was polite to a fault all evening. Haris did a better job than he used to at not being derisive towards Tango, but he seemed thrown off by Impulse, who in turn seemed to have picked up a thing or two from Ramal. There wasn't even a hint of hostility in him to the casual observer, but Tango could practically feel it behind every word and polite smile, and he had no idea what to do with it. He wanted to pull Impulse close and kiss him and ease the underlying tension out of him; wanted to ask him what was wrong. But all he could do was to rest his knee against Impulse’s under the table and make sure he remembered that Tango was there and had his back.

Impulse started relaxing a little when they dropped in on their host on their way back to their rooms, his smile more genuine again, and Tango could feel himself relax as well.

When the door closed behind them, the room lying silent around them, Tango finally pulled Impulse close, and gently tipped up his head to kiss him. Impulse surprised him with the fervour with which he responded, pressing himself to Tango and what had been intended as soft reassurance quickly turned biting and heated.

"He doesn't think you're worthy of your position," Impulse said between kisses. "And he doesn't think we belong together."

"He's always been an idiot," Tango got out before Impulse was kissing him again, harsh and biting and heated, and he had better things to think about.


	6. Many Paths to Tread

It was still early when Tango woke. He could see moonlight illuminating the garden outside the windows, and there were no sounds filtering inside, the world still asleep before dawn approached. Impulse was stretched out next to him, the skin of his back almost ghostly white in the moonlight.

Tango rested his head on his elbow, eyes trailing over Impulse's sleeping form. He looked peaceful now, all of the tension finally drained out of him. Tango was glad to see it. Impulse's vindictive streak had been a bit of a surprise, but Tango couldn't fault him for it.

Haris had always been like this, the younger son of an influential aristocratic family. Their influence had declined dramatically when Tango's mother had caught on to their derisive opinions of her husband and her son, but that had done nothing to change their conviction that they were better. When Haris had joined the military and had worked his way up, Tango's mother, ever willing to hold a grudge, had made sure to send him to Hafa, a semi-important post far enough away that there was no glory in it. Tango wasn't sure if he had really learned his lesson, but judging by their dinner last night he had at least learned the value of civility.

Impulse stirred in his sleep, but didn’t wake, and when Tango smoothed a hand down his back, he stilled again with a sigh and relaxed back into the mattress. Tango had grown up with the concept of soulmates. His own parents’ story had been one of his favourite bed time stories as a child, but he had never thought he would get to find a soulmate of his own. It had been a distant dream when he was small, but as he had gotten older he had come to understand that it was just that, a dream.

Ex had said that it was practically unheard of that the child of a djinn had a soulmate when they had no djinn magic of their own, but the truth of it was that as far as anyone remembered it had never happened before. Tango knew because he had asked the head librarian when he had gone looking for Impulse and Ramal on the day he had figured it out. Ex had been right, it really was a lot to take in, and in moments like this he was still working on realising how fiercely he loved Impulse. The way Impulse had reacted to Haris’ disdain only mirrored the way Tango would have felt if the situation was reversed. Really, the only reason he had held back was that he had dealt with Haris often enough to have learned to ignore him.

He could hear the first chirps of birds singing outside, and sure enough, the light had begun to change. They should get up soon, but right now Tango was content to let Impulse sleep. He'd wake him in a minute or two.

It was dawning outside when Impulse slowly but surely woke. He wanted to bury his head in the pillows, but when he opened his eyes Tango was right there next to him, already awake and watching him. He smiled when he met Impulse's eyes, and leaned in to kiss him softly. Impulse smiled back. His brain was still sluggish, but he didn't need to be fully awake to be happy to see Tango.

He turned fully to his side and moved closer, until he could bury his nose against the crook of Tango's neck, his hand splayed on his chest, right on top of his heart. His fingertips brushed the edge of a bruise he had sucked into the skin right where Tango's collarbone sat. He could feel Tango kiss the top of his head and wrap an arm around him, humming contentedly.

"We should get up soon," Tango murmured. "Get back on the road."

Impulse hummed in agreement and nosed at Tango's jaw. He smiled at the way Tango's breath hitched ever so slightly and his arm tightened around him when he started trailing a line of kisses along it.

Tango turned his head and captured his lips in a kiss, slow and steady but with just an edge of heat behind it. It would be so easy to give in to it; to seek it out and let it carry them along, but they both sighed into the kiss and broke apart.

"We really need to get up, don't we?" Impulse said, unable to keep the longing out of his voice.

"No way around it," Tango confirmed. "But if we do it now we have time for a bath before breakfast."

In terms of motivation it turned out to work pretty well, because when Tango gave him another quick kiss and got up, Impulse followed immediately.

If it hadn’t been for Tango’s arms around him, his lips trailing kisses across his shoulders, Impulse could have let himself be lulled back to sleep. But the occasional drag of teeth on his skin, and the way Tango was just holding him, was enough to keep his mind focused on staying awake. It would have been easy to let hands wander and turn this into something more, but neither of them made a move to.

Impulse couldn't help but watch Tango when they finally got out of the tub. His skin looked paler in the Overworld. There was still a hint of gold there, but it was a lot paler than in the Nether. It felt different to watch the shift of his muscles now that he knew what they felt like under his fingers, and what it felt like to be held by him.

His eyes followed the trail of a drop of water along the curve of Tango's neck and down his chest, and only when Tango stepped close did he realise that he had spaced out a little.

Tango raised an eyebrow at him, but when Impulse only shrugged sheepishly he smiled and leaned in for a quick kiss.

Breakfast was already waiting for them when they were done dressing, along with a short note and something wrapped in a piece of red cloth. When Tango unwrapped it there was a small bottle, about the size of a potion bottle. Inside were two small balls, shimmering in a dark green. The note said 'For emergencies' in square script.

"Ex," Tango said when Impulse shot him a questioning look. "Those must be from his personal ender pearl supply." He gently put down the bottle on the table. “He must really be worried."

He caught Impulse's slightly confused expression, and it dawned on him that he hadn't explained about X and Ex yet. He quickly gestured for him to sit down.

"Ex and Xisuma are both from the End," he said. "They left because they were curious about the world and to learn. But they realised fairly quickly that a lot of people thought the things they wanted to learn were bad. And things were a little worse for them because people could see and feel they were different. They've adjusted now and they need it less, but the helmet Ex was wearing yesterday is to help them breathe, and they used to have to wear them all the time."

"The End has a lot less air than the Overworld, right?" Impulse asked, and Tango nodded.

"It does. And that meant they were always marked as different to everyone they met. I'll not go into details here, Ren tells it better than I do, because he was there for a lot of it, but that's why they founded the Hermits in the end. To provide everyone who was different and cast out with a place to call home."

Impulse smiled softly. "From the way you talk about them they really managed that.”

Tango considered his words for a moment before he nodded. “They really have. The Hermits…they’re just as much my family as you or my mother or Ramal. A lot of that is thanks to Xisuma and Ex.”

Impulse reached out and squeezed his hand, a silent acknowledgement that he understood.

They kept breakfast short after that and soon enough they were leading their horses out of the northern city gate and into the small mountain range that separated the desert from Pesara. The path cut a sharp line into it. It had been hewn into the stone a long time ago, its original builders long forgotten. The djinn controlled the route up to where it left the mountains on the other side, and they rode past several of their outposts along the road.

And then finally they had reached the highest point of the road and they could see it gently slope downward again towards Pesara. The country that stretched out before them was a stark contrast to the desert they had left behind. It was green and hilly, the landscape dotted with fields and vineyards, and the roads lined with spindly cypresses. There was a small fortified town below them, its buildings slotted tightly together on an outcropping of bare, light beige rock.

They were hoping to cross the border with relatively little trouble so they could still cover some distance to get away from it, and stay at one of the villages further along the road. It had been a long time since Impulse had been anywhere this green, even though it paled in comparison to the forests of his childhood. He quickly shook off the thought, he hadn’t thought of that place in years, he wasn’t going to start now. He threw a last look over his shoulder at the desert that had been his home for the last years, before he nudged Ghast to follow Tango down the road and towards the next part of their journey.

Impulse hung back a little when they reached the border, leaving the talking to Tango, who did an amazing job at procuring their travel documents with the mannerisms of someone, who wasn't used to being questioned. The guards eyed them a little suspiciously but when they couldn't find anything at fault with the papers they let them through, and they were quick to get away from them.

Impulse could see something shift in the set of Tango's shoulders as they passed the town, a tension that hadn't been there before that settled over them now. This was truly Tango the Hermit he realised. Always on his guard wherever he went, because someone might recognise him for what he was.

It felt familiar. Impulse himself had spent a lot of his life like this, always afraid that someone found him out. Unlike Tango he hadn't always had someone who watched his back.

They rode until the sun was about to start setting and they got a room in a tavern by the road. It seemed to be a popular spot for travellers, and they didn't receive more than a cursory glance upon entering the main room after they had stashed their packs in their room and made sure it was all locked up.

Dinner was simple but good, and they sat together for a while after, just talking about nothing in particular while they finished off their wine before they decided to call it an early night and go to bed.

The next few days were much of the same. They steadily made their way North towards Finis, passing villages and small towns, but staying away from them as much as they could. Settlements likely meant more prying eyes and potential questions, and that was the last thing they needed. On their fourth day in the country the road led right through a village. A group of children was playing in a corner of the central square, laughing and running around.

They were starting a new round of their game as Impulse and Tango rode past, and when Impulse heard the words he almost halted Ghast right there and then.

"Strega comanda colore," one of the kids said, and the rest of their words were lost in white noise.

He hadn't heard the word strega in a long time, Impulse realised. Not since… no, now was not the time. He shook his head to clear the memory, which earned him a concerned look from Tango, but all he could do was mouth "later" at him. Maybe in the privacy of their room he'd be able to let himself think about it and explain.

He did his best to keep his mind focussed on the road and the surrounding land, but every so often a stray memory would get through and he would have to take a deep breath to clear his head. Tango tried not to show it, but Impulse could see the increasing concern in the looks he gave him.

He could see Tango’s barely hidden curiosity but also his concern all through dinner, but there was no way he was going to touch on any of his memories out here for everyone to see. Tango seemed to get it though, because he grabbed their wine as soon as they were done with their food, and they took it up to their room instead of drinking it in the main room.

“You looked like you didn’t want to be around people,” Tango said as soon as the door had closed behind them. “Are you…are you okay?”

He gently put down the wine, before he stepped closer to Impulse, and waited for him to nod before he pulled him into a hug. Impulse sank into it with a sigh, closing his eyes and just breathing for a moment. The scents of the Nether seemed to cling to Tango longer than usual, there was still a hint of sulphur, the smoke more like a campfire than the typical harsher smell in the Nether, but there nonetheless. It smelled like home, he realised with a start, not just Tango himself, but the Nether as well, and he had to smile at the realisation before he let go of him, and pulled him over to sit on the bed.

"That game those children were playing earlier," he said. "You heard the words they said?"

Tango shook his head.

Impulse took a deep breath. "Strega comanda colore, it was. I...I don't actually know where the phrase comes from. It's very very old I think."

"You know it?"

"The game? Not actually no." Impulse shook his head. "But the word strega I know. It's…" He had to close his eyes and take a deep breath. "I heard it all through my childhood. People in the village whispering about the strega living in the woods. Sometimes in awe, sometimes almost reverent, a lot of the times in fear or even hatred. They tried to keep their mouths shut around me, but I heard them often enough. And at some point even a child realises what's going on when everyone keeps asking them if their mother is treating them right."

"What does it mean?" Tango was still watching him, but Impulse could already see him put the pieces together.

"As I said I don't know where it comes from or how old it really is, but it means witch in some lost tongue no one fully remembers."

Tango nodded slowly. "So that's how you learned potion brewing," he said after a moment.

"Yes. She taught me everything she knew. And she…" He had to close his eyes, and he could feel tears spilling over. He hadn't allowed himself to even think about his mother in years, and now he missed her with a sudden ache that almost threatened to overcome him.

Tango put an arm around him and pulled him down until they were both lying on the bed, Tango's arms solidly around him, his hand running soothingly up and down his spine while Impulse cried into his chest.

"You don't have to tell me," Tango said when Impulse had managed to pull himself together again. "Not if it hurts too much."

But Impulse shook his head and moved away enough so he could see Tango's face, the warmth of his eyes a steady anchor. "I want to. I haven't… I haven't had anyone to share this with before, and I just...didn't want to remember because it hurt too much. But...but I want to share now." He didn't think he could put into words what it truly meant to him; that Tango gave him the strength to face his memories. But the look in Tango's eyes, and the way he took Impulse's hands in his own told him that he didn't have to.

He took a deep breath before he started. "She was the gentlest, most caring and loving person I ever met. We lived in the forest outside the village, far enough away to not be part of it anymore, close enough to get there easily. She gave what help she could to anyone who came to our home asking for it, and even the animals in the forest around us came to our door when they were hurt because they knew she would treat them and help them get better. I think not a day passed without an animal in the house with us. She had a familiar, this tiny little songbird that would sing me to sleep. It was just the three of us, I never knew my father, but we were happy. I learned reading with my mother’s books, and I would sit for hours at the table in her work room watching her brew and mix and create. The women from the village would come to her with their problems. But they never accepted her as part of the community, and they never truly accepted me. They talked behind our backs, tried to get me to admit that she wasn't treating me right. But it took them a long time to find an excuse. I was 14 at the time, old enough to know that I would leave my mother eventually and go out into the world to learn, but still young enough to want to stay with her forever. A boy from the village fell ill and his family asked my mother for help. She had to tell them that he wouldn't make it, but they didn't want to listen to her, and in the end he died.

The village blamed my mother and this time they were out for blood. They came for us at night. I woke up because of the light of their torches, and when I woke my mother she told me to run to the pantry and crawl into the tunnel we had dug one summer when I was small and it was too hot to go anywhere but we still wanted to go to the little lake in the woods to swim."

He had to close his eyes and took a deep shuddering breath, making Tango’s hands tighten around his.

"She didn't make it out. They burned the house and her along with it, all the while shouting that word, strega, as if it was an insult. I hid in the bushes where they couldn't see me until the wolf pack that lived deep in the forest and that only came to us when they had no other choice found me and their pack leader carried me to their den where they took care of me, along with the other animals of the forest. It took me a long time to get to a point where I felt like I could face people again, and when I left I walked in the opposite direction from the village and then I kept going until I found a place that didn't remind me of home."

Tango drew him into a tight hug when he was finished, and his voice was heavy with emotion when he said, "Thank you for telling me."

"I'm glad I did. I wish you could have met her."

"She sounds like she was an amazing mother."

"Yes." Impulse smiled. "The children of the village didn't really want to play with me, but she came up with all kinds of games and stories. One summer we build a small raft and we would pretend to go out onto the high seas. There was a little island in the middle of it and it became whatever we wanted it to be. And when she didn't have time to play there were always the animals. The wolves were as careful as babysitters as my mother could have wished for."

They stayed like that, Impulse sharing memories of his mother he hadn't thought about in years and Tango asking about their life together until they both got tired and slipped into sleep, still in their clothes, on top of the covers.

Tango had a lot to think about when they continued their journey the next day. After everything that Impulse had shared the evening before he felt like he knew him much better than he had before. They were soulmates, and they had already had a level of understanding about each other that could not be matched, but knowing about each other's history gave it a whole new depth. He could see a change in Impulse as well. It was as if a weight had lifted off his shoulders, something that Tango hadn't even known was there. It seemed like his smiles came easier, his laughs were lighter, like some deep sadness had lifted and his unaddressed grief had grown into acceptance and remembrance of the good times he had had.

Tango was glad to see it. He had never met Impulse’s mother, but he doubted that she would have wanted him to carry the sadness of her death with him for the rest of his life. And it seemed like sharing the memory of her death had made Impulse rediscover a trove of memories. He had shared so many the night before, but it seemed like they had made him remember other things as well. There was a wealth of knowledge about plants and animals there that had seemingly just waited to be rediscovered. Tango couldn’t help but soak it all up. There was a new glint in Impulse's eyes as he talked about it, a fondness tinged with a hint of melancholy, and soon enough Tango found himself asking questions.

It felt like the day passed far too quickly before they had to swerve off the main road into one of the villages to find a room for the night.

Their entrance earned them suspicious looks this evening. It seemed this village wasn't as used to travellers as the ones right on the main road. Tango looked around the room before they sat down and decided that it would be better to keep their guard up tonight. There was no way of telling if any of the more hostile stares they got would lead to anything unpleasant for them.

He turned out to be right when they were half-way through their dinner and a scowling, drunk man sat down heavily at their table.

He turned to Impulse and said, “So what’s a perfectly normal guy like you doing with filth like this one?”

“I’m not sure how that would be any of your concern,” Impulse said, raising an eyebrow.

“Come on, he coercing you into following him? They’re tricky these djinn.”

Impulse’s polite smile didn’t slip, but the look in his eyes got harder when he said, “I assure you I can take care of myself.”

Tango had to bite his tongue. It was better if he didn’t say anything right now. There was no way this guy would take kindly to anything he would have to add to this conversation, however polite he said it.

But as it turned out the drunk guy had different ideas, because he turned to Tango next and said, “You got anything to say for yourself, filth?”

“I think my companion has said everything there is to say,” Tango replied calmly. He dug his fingers into his thigh to ground himself. He didn’t like one bit where this conversation was going.

“Yeah? Then how come you dare to set your foot in our country when that useless prince of yours slums it with those Hermits.”

It took a lot of effort to not let his anger show, but the feeling of Impulse’s foot resting against his own under the table grounded him just enough to be able to smile at the man and say, “What the prince does is none of my concern.”

“Well it should be. He and his filthy b-”

Tango never found out how the sentence ended, because Impulse’s hand “slipped” and hit his bowl of stew just right to spill the contents on the man.

His face was a perfect mask of innocence when he apologised, and before the man could react the innkeeper was there, apologising profusely and pulling the man away from their table by the elbow.

When he returned a few minutes later with a new bowl of stew for Impulse he stood by their table for a moment before he said, “I just want you to know that not all of us think like he does. I couldn’t care less what any princes and kings do or think. It’s coin what feeds my family not opinions.”

Tango smiled at him, if a bit strained. “His words shall not reflect on you,” he said, and the innkeeper nodded in thanks before he left them to their dinner.

Tango took a deep breath to calm himself once he was gone. Impulse’s foot was still resting against his own, a steady reminder that he was there to support him. And really it wasn’t worth getting this worked up about. It was just some guy in a tavern. There were more guys like him out there and getting angry about one guy wouldn’t change their minds. Impulse studied his face for a moment before he reached out and squeezed Tango’s hand; a gentle reminder that he got it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The game the children play in this chapter "Strega comanda colore" is an actual Italian children's game that we used to play with the other kids at the hotel where we spent our summer holidays every year. One kid is the witch (strega), who names a colour, all the other kids have to run and touch something that is that colour to be safe, while the strega tries to catch thim. Anyone who gets caught becomes the strega in the next round.


	7. Through Shadows

It took them another two weeks to cross through the rest of Pesara and reach the border with Finis. It was uneventful, some evenings people didn’t look at them twice, others they were met with more hostile stares. But no one approached them again.

As they rode further north the landscape around them changed slowly. The fields gave way to forests, and then they started to even out slightly. On the other side of the forest the small river they had been following became larger and meandered through grassland, before it made an eastward bend where the Pesaran border town was. They reached the town by mid-day and decided to stop there to stock up their supplies.

Finis was a lot less populated than Pesara, and while they could hunt on the way it was better not to rely on their luck while they were out in the wild. The Finisians were horse breeders, living either half-nomadic with their herds or in far spaced out small settlements, and there was no guarantee that they would find a place to sleep for the night.

It took them most of the afternoon to gather their supplies and pack them away, and when they were done they silently agreed to have an early dinner and make as much use of the bed as they could.

This time they were scrutinised a bit more closely as they crossed the border. There were no guards on the Finisian side, but the Pesaran guards were all the more vigilant for it. Tango told them he was considering getting some Finisian horses for breeding purposes, making a big show of patting Blaze's neck and telling them all about what great horse breeders the Finisians were. Impulse suspected the reason they were let through so fast was that the guards didn't want to have to listen to Tango any more than they had to.

That evening when they were sitting by the fire Tango dug through his pack and pulled a ring from a secret pocket. He held it out to Impulse, who took it carefully and examined it. On the outside it was a plain black steel ring, but when he looked at the inside there was a narrow ring of redstone set into the metal, broken only by a glyph that looked like a T with another horizontal line above it.

"It's the letter H from the Galactic alphabet," Tango explained. "All Hermits have a token like this so we can identify ourselves to outsiders."

"And it's safe to wear it now?"

Tango nodded. "The Finisians officially take a fairly neutral stance towards us. They don't necessarily support us, but they do trade with us. As I told the guards at the border earlier, Blaze was bred here in Finis. We get most of our horses from them. Most Finisians are friendly enough towards us."

Impulse nodded. "Pesara can't have liked it when they found out that they trade with you," he said.

"It caused some tensions," Tango said. "Pesara only backed down when Stress hinted that she would provide aid and military support for Finis should there be a war. Not even King Dick wanted to push for war with both Finis and Snefjella. Not to mention that it was hinted that we'd lend support as well." Tango gave him a toothy grin. "He's deadly afraid of what we can do."

"Rightfully so?" Impulse said with a chuckle.

Tango shrugged and said, "We're generally not in the business of building war machines. But Cub gets pretty inventive if you hand him some explosives and let him do his thing."

Their shared laughter trailed over the dark plains around them, before Tango launched into more stories about his fellow Hermits.

When Tango started to yawn Impulse gave him a soft smile and said, "Come on, you go to sleep. I'll take the first watch."

"You sure?"

Impulse rolled his eyes at him. "I'm not the one yawning."

"No one is yawning," Tango said, yawning.

Impulse laughed and reached out to run a hand through his hair. He smiled softly. "Sleep, Tango. I'll wake you when it's your turn."

Tango smiled back. He leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. "If you insist."

Tango fell asleep quickly, lying close enough for Impulse to be able to touch him from where he was sitting.

Impulse waited for his breaths to even out before he shifted and settled down a little more comfortably. As he stared into the fire, he couldn't help but think about his mother. Ever since he had told Tango about her more and more had come back to him. Not just simple memories, but half-forgotten knowledge. With every plant he recognised and remembered the name of he remembered how to use them and for what. Dimly remembered potion and salve recipes that he had watched his mother make again and again were suddenly present in his mind again.

It was as if a dam was breaking, slowly but surely. And with the knowledge something else was slowly trickling through the walls he had put up around everything connected to his mother and her death. He couldn't grasp it yet, but he felt as if his awareness of the world around him was heightened, as if he had found some connection to it that he had lost.

With Tango fast asleep next to him he closed his eyes and focussed.

It took Tango a few moments to find his bearings when Impulse gently woke him up in the middle of the night. Impulse looked tired and there was something pensive about him, but he shook his head at Tango's questioning look, and kissed his cheek before he curled up on the ground, close to Tango. Tango gently pet his hair while he did his best to wake fully. Impulse relaxed under his touch, a sigh escaping his lips before he snuggled closer in his sleep. Tango smiled down at him. He would regret being unable to move his legs but for now it was fine.

Travelling through Finis was a lot lonelier than travelling through Pesara had been. Most people who had to cross the country took the long way around the edges of the plains and the big forest in the middle of the country. There were inns along those roads, and small towns. But the way through the centre was faster, and they didn't have to pay as much attention to what they said around whom, which had been why they had decided to travel this way.

Some evenings they found shelter in the longhouses of local families, the farmers always welcoming and eager to hear any news they had picked up on the way, however old they were. Impulse remained pensive but whenever Tango tried to figure out what was going on with him, he just smiled and shook his head and said it was okay.

Tango noticed that it was worse on the days after they slept outside, but he had no idea how to explain it. All he could come up with was that Impulse just had more time to think about things while he was keeping watch.

Impulse knew that Tango had caught on to his pensive mood, and he knew it was likely that he had at least made the connection between whether they slept outside or not. But he couldn't explain it to him. Not yet. Not when he was still trying to figure out what was going on. But the truth was that his awareness of the land surrounding them had grown. Some days he almost felt like he could feel every animal around them, could feel every bit of life surrounding them. And for now he wanted to keep the knowledge to himself. Wanted to keep to himself how everything seemed brighter, but nothing the way Tango did.

Because Tango was the brightest life he saw. Where all of the other lives were small lights, Tango was a bright fire, golden and warm and making Impulse want to bury close and let himself be enveloped.

It scared him some nights; the feeling almost too overwhelming for him. Tango was home, which was exactly the problem. Because his mother had been home, and he had lost her, and Impulse knew how easily something could happen to Tango.

It had the potential to destroy him, Impulse knew. But the scariest part was perhaps the fact that he could not stand to even think about not being with Tango. Because that would destroy him even more than any potential loss could. Some nights when he was keeping watch and his anxiety ran away from him it almost felt like the steady flame of Tango's life responded to his feelings, burning a little brighter and making Tango stir in his sleep. Impulse had found that he could soothe the flame a little if he reached out with his mind, and whenever he did Tango stilled again, sleeping on peacefully.

Some nights when he was a little less preoccupied with his anxiety about potentially losing Tango, he just sat in the darkness, casting his mind out and letting the sensations of the sleeping nature around them wash over him. He leaned on dimly remembered exercises his mother had given him shortly before her death, trying to hone his skills and focus his mind on the smallest of things.

He hadn't felt a connection to his witch magic since her death, but he had realised that the slow trickling that had come with the memories was just that. He worked on his awareness of it, but without guidance there was only so much he could do. Still, he was fairly sure at this point that behind his mental walls, as brittle as they had become, more magic was waiting to be let out. What he did not know yet was how much of it there was and whether he would be able to handle it or not.

He sighed and reached out to run his fingers through Tango's hair. He knew he should tell him, knew he should explain himself, but he hadn't figured out how; hadn't figured out how to tell him that he was afraid of what might happen if his magic broke through. He didn't want to hurt him, but he was afraid that it would happen either way.

He was glad when they reached the forest, because the few people who lived here kept their houses close to the main road. It meant they had a roof over their heads almost every night, and while Impulse always had one part of his mind focused on his magic, he could safely lie with Tango, their limbs entangled, and let himself be enveloped by him the way he truly wanted to. His heart sang in those nights, and he could feel the pressure of his magic ease a little, as if it was calmed by Tango's presence.

He still hadn't told Tango when they reached the edge of the forest and saw the plains stretching out in front of them again. They could see the country get hillier again in the distance, the first sign of the mountains they saw on their travels. Blaze stretched his neck eagerly to smell the air, and Tango leaned forward to pat his neck.

“We’ll be there soon,” he said with a grin, and Blaze whinnied in excitement.

He looked over at Impulse, still grinning. “Tonight we’re staying at an old friend’s house,” he said. “She doesn’t live far from here. She's the one I got Blaze from."

Blaze whinnied again at the sound of his name.

"Come on let's let them run," Tango said, and Impulse barely had time to nod before Blaze jumped forward and smoothly switched into a gallop, Ghast following just as quick.

It really wasn't far, and not quite an hour later a large farm came into view, and they slowed down to ride into the yard at a more normal pace. It was framed by buildings on three sides. One was occupied by a longhouse, the other two by stables and a barn. Out of the latter walked a formidable woman, tall and broad shouldered and with a thick, fiery red braid hanging over her shoulder. Around her neck hung a heavy torque, and she held the pitchfork in her hand in a way that would have made it easy for her to turn it into a weapon should she need to. She relaxed when she saw Tango, her face stretching into a wide grin, as she leaned the pitchfork against the wall of the barn.

"Tango!" She said. "I didn't expect you."

Tango jumped off his horse with a wide grin of his own. "We were in the area so we thought we'd pop in for a visit."

She turned to Impulse who had unmounted next to Tango, and raised an eyebrow. "You're a new face. But that horse of yours is a beauty," she said. "She's got a good stride and endurance."

Impulse smiled. "She's been with me for a while. I could always rely on her."

"And I see you've taken good care of her." There was respect in the way she looked at him, and when she stepped in to clasp his lower arm in a strong warrior's clasp she simply said, "I'm Rhee. Welcome to my home."

"Impulse. Thank you for having us."

She turned to Tango with a grin. "You found yourself a polite one I see."

Tango shrugged, and when he met Impulse's eyes he smiled softly at him. "Don't be fooled. He can be vicious if he wants to."

Rhee looked between them, an amused smile on her face, before she said, "You both got it bad, don't you?" She shook her head. "Now come on, I'll show you where to leave the horses, and then we'll go see what Wydan and Pona are up to, I'm sure they'll be thrilled to have guests."

Rhee led them into the stables and helped them take care of Ghast and Blaze before she grabbed both their packs and walked over to the longhouse with them.

Like other traditional Finisian longhouses there were no windows, but the wealth that had already been betrayed by Rhee's torque was just as evident in the amount of lighting inside. There was the standard fire in the middle of the room, its light supplemented by lanterns along the walls, and another fire off to the side where a woman with light blonde hair was sitting on a table, her chin resting on her hand as she watched a small stocky man cut up vegetables. She straightened when they came in and gave them all a brilliant smile.

"You brought guests Rhee!" she exclaimed and hopped off the table.

The guy looked up from his chopping and put down his knife.

"Hello Tango," he said and Tango gave both of them a little wave.

"It's good to see you all again," he said.

The woman skipped over towards them and hugged him.

"Oh that's too nice of you."

"It's true though." He laughed before he stepped back a little and pulled Impulse close. "Pona, Wydan, this is Impulse. Impulse, these are Pona and Wydan."

Pona smiled widely at Impulse and wrapped him in a hug next. "It's so good to meet you," she said, as he somehow remembered to hug her back.

Wydan smiled at his surprised face. "Pona can be a bit enthusiastic," he said. "She backs off when you tell her to, though."

"Oh it's not…I was just surprised," Impulse said. "But I'll keep it in mind."

Wydan nodded, before he frowned down at his vegetables. "I guess I better get some more of these to make sure we have enough," he said, wiping down his hands and disappearing through a door in the corner.

Pona smiled at them. "I'll go make sure we have a bed ready for the two of you," she said and went off to get to work in one of the nooks of the room.

Rhee put down their packs next to a bench and gestured for them to sit down while she fetched two mugs and filled them from a jug that was set on the kitchen table.

"So how have you fared," she asked Tango when she had sat down with them. "It's been what, two years since you lot came down from that mountain of yours?"

Tango shrugged. "We wanted to come down for the races last summer, but everyone was still on edge because Bdubs, Etho and Beef had gone missing, so we decided against it."

"Have you found them?"

Tango shook his head, and Impulse leaned in a little and took his hand for a gentle squeeze.

"According to Doc he was lucky to get out. We don't know what happened with the others and whether they're still alive or not." His voice broke a little at the last words, and Impulse held his hand tighter. He squeezed back, thankful for the silent support. "I know Ex has been looking, but he hasn't been able to find them."

Rhee sighed. "I hope you will find them again. I always liked Bdubs, he is so full of life and creativity." She reached out and put a hand on Tango's shoulder. "If we hear anything about them, we'll make sure to get the news to you. And I'll spread the word around as discreetly as possible."

He smiled at her. "Thank you. Joe is sure they'll come back to us, so we're not giving up hope just yet."

"The poet is a wise man." Rhee smiled. "But enough of the bad things. What else do you have to tell?"

They sat there by the fire exchanging news until Wydan called them over for dinner. Pona joined them for a bit, comfortably slotting herself in under Rhee's arm and leaning into her.

After dinner Impulse offered Rhee his help with making her evening round around the stables, and she looked at him consideringly before she nodded. "I won't stop you if you want to help," she said with a shrug, and he quickly followed her outside with a last smile for Tango on his way out. Tango smiled back before he turned towards Pona and Wydan, meeting their expectant looks with a fond chuckle. He wasn't going to be spared the questions it seemed.

Impulse could feel Rhee watching him as they worked side by side. Together they made quick work of getting the horses and the small assortment of other animals fed.

But before they could go back to the main house, Rhee gently held him back and said, "There's something you're not telling him, isn't there?" Impulse gave her a surprised look, but she just smiled kindly. "It took me a bit to spot it, but it's the way you look at him. I've seen that look before. And I've known Tango for a while, he's aware that there is something, but he trusts you to tell him when you're ready."

Impulse bit his lip, thinking for a moment before he said, "It's...I'm just working on figuring something out, and I don't know how to tell him yet." He looked towards the house. "I'm just...figuring it out myself still."

"That's cryptic, but you don't have to tell me." Rhee followed his gaze and after a moment she added, "But if you are afraid I don't think you have to be. And if it’s apprehension about the Hermits…you’ll fit in, I have no doubt about that.”

He smiled. “It’s not about the Hermits, I can tell you that much. I…I may have only met two of them so far, but I know my home is wherever Tango is, and his family is mine.”

“That’s a big commitment to make,” Rhee said, not unkindly.

“I know.” Impulse shrugged. “But it’s the one thing I am absolutely sure about in all of this.”

She smiled. "Then I am sure you will be fine. Just trust Tango, even with your own confusion. You never know, maybe his support will help you."

He nodded silently, and Rhee put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Let's go back in and save him from Pona's questioning," she said.

Impulse laughed as he followed her back to the house. When he sat back down with Tango he got a brilliant smile, and an adoring sigh from Pona, as if they were the cutest thing she had ever seen. Wydan laughed at her affectionately, and Rhee smiled at all of them. Impulse was glad they had come here.

Later when they were in bed, their little nook closed off from the main room with a curtain of heavy woollen fabric, Tango wrapped his arm around Impulse and pulled him close with a contented sigh. It had been a good idea to come here he thought, even if the stud farm was a little off from the road. He had missed the easy, caring way Rhee, Pona and Wydan had, and it was good to see them again. He couldn't wait for the summer and coming down for the races with Impulse and as many of the others as were willing to come along.

It was the biggest event in Finis all year, a way for the people to exchange news and goods, and for the horse breeders to get together and show off their efforts.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Impulse burrowed closer and murmured quietly “I…there’s something I should tell you.”

Tango swallowed. “Yeah?” he asked just as quietly.

“It’s…remember what I told you about my mother being a witch?”

Tango nodded silently, of course he wouldn’t forget that, but he didn’t think that this was the time to remind Impulse of that.

“I…when she died, I shoved all my memories away and locked them up. I didn’t want to be reminded of her. What I didn’t realise was that I was so good at it that I locked other things away with them. You see, the child of a witch will almost always be a witch themself, and when I locked away my memories of my mother, I somehow managed to lock away my magic with it.”

He paused and Tango couldn’t help but hold him tighter. “So what changed?”

Impulse considered it for a moment, before he said, “I told you about her. It’s…I haven’t figured out how it all works, but when I told you memories started to come back to me. I…I remembered her and I started to remember what she taught me. And…with all of that I could feel something else slowly come back to me.”

“Your magic is coming back, isn’t it?”

Impulse nodded into his chest. “At least I think that’s what’s happening.” Another pause. “But I’m…I’m afraid.” His voice was so low now that Tango had to strain to hear him. “It feels like there’s so much of it, and I don’t know what it will do.”

Tango turned until he was lying on his back, pulling Impulse along with him and wrapping his second arm around him as well.

“We’ll figure it out,” he murmured into Impulse’s hair. “We’ll take it one day at a time and we’ll figure it out.” He smoothed a hand down Impulse’s back in a soothing motion. “I love you and I’ll be with you whatever happens. Whatever you need I’ll be there to help you.”

He could feel Impulse relax and go pliant against him. “Thank you,” he whispered. “I love you.”

Tango pressed a kiss to his temple. “No. Thank you for telling me.”

It was probably better not to tell Impulse that he had started to worry about him. He was entirely focused on reassuring him, because really that was what he needed right now. And so Tango held Impulse close as he tucked his head underneath his chin, his head on Tango’s chest listening to his steady heartbeat, and soon enough they both had drifted off to sleep.


	8. To the Edge of Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you scream at me after reading this... the Happy Ending tag still stands
> 
> If you want to you can listen to [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNUJCH3CeR8) while reading the last scene starting after the words "Then he passed out." Let yourself be warned that it might hurt though.

The wind had picked up over night, and when they got up the next morning it was blowing across the plains in strong gusts.

Rhee went out to check up on the horses while they helped Wydan with breakfast preparations. She returned windswept and frowning.

“You should probably wait this out, before you leave. It looks like the storm is only getting worse, and you don’t want to get stuck in that out in the open.”

Tango exchanged a look with Impulse who just shrugged.

"Guess we'll have to stay then," he said. "You need any help getting things ready?"

"We can use any hand we can get. But not until after breakfast."

They all nodded, and everyone quickly sat down.

They kept breakfast short, and then they all quickly got to work, taking the animals that were still outside into the stables, and making sure nothing could be blown away by the storm.

By the time they were done the wind had picked up even further, and they quickly headed back inside, glad to be out of the wind. All that was left now was to wait.

They talked for a while, played some games, told stories. But by mid-afternoon, Impulse was leaning into Tango’s side, looking like he would doze off any minute. Tango had his arm wrapped around him as he played a game of chess against Wydan.

Impulse watched Wydan take one of Tango’s pieces, and then he must have dozed off somehow, because the next thing he knew was that Wydan was over in the corner whispering with Pona, while Rhee was playing a soft tune on a set of reed pipes.

Tango’s arm was still wrapped around him, his hand drawing idle circles on Impulse’s arm.

When Impulse moved he turned his head a little and smiled at him, all fond and soft.

He pressed a kiss to Impulse's temple and softly said, "Can I ask you a question?"

Impulse nodded.

"Witch magic. What does it do?"

Impulse thought about it for a moment, before he replied, "It connects us to the life forces around us; plants, animals, people, anything that lives. Some witches have an easier time working with plants, others feel a closer connection to animals. My mother didn't just help all those animals, she communicated with them. There's not much else it can do. Witch magic is weak usually, so its uses are limited. The more powerful witches can use it to make their potions more potent, to add something to them."

Tango nodded. "So what does yours do?"

Impulse's eyes strayed towards the fire. "I'm not sure, yet," he said softly. "It's kind of overwhelming right now, you know? I can...if I concentrate I can just feel all this life around me and it's...there is just so much of it."

Tango held him tighter. "Just focus on me when it gets too much," he said, as if he somehow knew how Impulse's magic saw him. But he couldn't know and the fact that he just wanted to do whatever he could to support him made Impulse swallow. He wrapped his arm around Tango's waist and held on tightly.

"I will," he whispered. "I do."

Tango smiled and pressed another kiss to his temple.

Later when they were in bed, Tango's arms wrapped around Impulse, he whispered into the darkness, "You're like a fire to my magic. Not like the one that took my mother from me, but something cosy that warms me to my bones. You're home and I hope I never have to see that flame go out."

Tango didn't reply, and for a moment Impulse thought he had fallen asleep already, but then he pulled Impulse impossibly closer and rested their foreheads together.

"I hope you'll never have to," he whispered, voice hoarse with emotion.

Impulse had no words to reassure him so he could only tilt his head up a little and kiss him, a gentle reminder that they were together for now.

The storm took two days to pass, and once it had moved on it took another day for Rhee to declare the roads dry enough to send them on their way.

They spent the second day of the storm much like the first one, and then they helped patching up what little storm damage there was. Tango had patched a small hole in the roof of the shed and when he came back down, Impulse was with the small herd of pigs, murmuring lowly to them. Tango watched as he knelt down and one of the pigs lifted its foot so he could check over its hoof. He was gentle with them, careful in a way that made Tango’s heart swell with love. And the pigs seemed to trust him. Tango couldn’t help but think that this was something Impulse had picked up from his mother. He had talked about how caring she was towards others, and her connection to animals, and it seemed evident that Impulse had at least picked some of that up from her.

Pona came to stand next to him and almost whispered, “He’s been dealing with the animals all day. They all trust him, and he has found out something that was wrong with one of the horses that has bothered Rhee for days.”

Tango had to smile. “He seems to be in his element.”

“He truly does.” Pona nodded. “It’s a shame that you have to leave and I can’t be there to find out what else he can do.”

“I’ll make sure to tell you when we’re down here for the races in the summer,” Tango said with a low chuckle.

Pona grinned. "I can't wait to hear it," she said before she patted his shoulder and disappeared from his side again, heading over to the small vegetable garden by the main house.

Tango stayed right where he was, watching as Impulse gently felt along the pig leg, still talking to the animal in soothing tones.

When he was done with what he was doing he gave it a gentle pat on the head that earned him a gentle head-butt from the pig.

He straightened with a smile that got only fonder when he turned and found Tango watching him. He climbed out of the pig pen, and came over to Tango, stopping right in front of him. He was still smiling when he backed Tango against the doorframe and Tango drew him in by the hips before Impulse leaned up a little and kissed him. It was slow, unhurried, Impulse a warm, solid weight against him that pressed him against the door frame. Impulse tilted his head a little to deepen the kiss and Tango's lips opened eagerly. He slipped his hand around to rest at the small of Impulse's back, fingers splayed out to give him enough leverage to pull him closer.

He was about to pull at Impulse's shirt so he could slip his fingers underneath when they were hit by a splash of water, and parted.

Pona was standing next to them, a smirk on her face and a water bucket in her hand.

"Now boys, behave," she said. "You'll scar the pigs for their lives."

Impulse laughed and moved away, making Tango yearn for his touch almost immediately.

"We'll make sure not to," Impulse said.

"Good. Now I need one of you to help me with the fence in the garden and Rhee was looking for someone to help her wrangle the chickens."

"I'll go help Rhee," Impulse said, smiling as he leaned in and gave Tango a quick kiss.

"Then I guess I'm on fence duty," Tango said once he had watched Impulse vanish around a corner.

Pona was still smirking when he turned back to her. "You got it so so bad," she sing-songed at him, and he could only shrug.

"It's not exactly news anymore at this point."

"Ah but it's still fun to tease you about it."

He laughed. "Now where is that fence you need help with?"

Impulse was almost a bit sad to leave. He had enjoyed their time with Rhee and the others, and he was already looking forward to see them again. Wydan stocked up their food supplies before they left and packed them food for the day at least, and once they had hugged everyone goodbye they mounted their horses and rode out onto the small side road that lead from the horse stud to the main road. When Impulse looked back before they followed a bend around a hill he saw Rhee standing at the gate, a lonely figure that waved one last time before they disappeared out of sight.

Impulse looked forward again, following Tango along the road ahead.

They followed the road north-west, and slowly but surely they met more travellers.

They would have to pass by the capital to get to the border post with Snefjella, and the closer they got the more guards there were along the road. The capital itself was small and almost plain. It was capital only in name, because it was where the Finisian chieftains met to discuss political problems and to decide important cases of law. It was also where the horse races were held every summer, and Tango pointed out the race track in the distance when they rode past.

The town itself was home to merchants of all sorts. It was the main hub for trading with the countries surrounding Finis, and from here any imported wares were distributed over the country.

But they weren't here for trade, and after a night of sleep they were already moving on.

It was a week or so later that they reached the border with Snefjella and Impulse witnessed the power of Tango's ring for the first time.

They were crossing at a smaller border post with less people, and while the Finisian guards just waved them through, the Snefjellan ones asked to see their papers, but instead of pulling out the papers he still had stashed in his pack, Tango pulled off the black ring he was wearing on his right middle finger and handed it to the guard.

"He's with me," he said, nodding his head towards Impulse.

The guard nodded and after a brief glance at the inside of the ring to confirm what it was, he handed it back.

"Welcome back," he said. "You might want to take the Eastern road. That storm two weeks ago caused some mudslides along the Western road and they're still cleaning that up."

"Any casualties?"

"Not that I know of. And the last thing I heard was that they got it covered over there. Not really anything the lot of you can do to help."

"That's good then. Thank you for the information."

The guard nodded. "Safe travels."

They thanked him and then quickly rode on.

The road followed a wide valley before snaking up a hill to a village. Tango's shoulders had tensed up a little over the past few days and with more people around, but now that they had crossed the border he relaxed again.

"We're a week and a half out from home," he said over dinner that evening. "Just north along the Eastern road and then we need to cut west to get to the mountain road. It should be easy travelling from here. There's a couple villages along the way so we should be able to find somewhere to sleep every night."

Impulse nodded. It felt a bit weird to think that they had almost reached their destination after two months of travel, but he was looking forward to it. He started to feel excited about meeting the other Hermits and getting to know the people he had heard so much about in the past weeks. It was a new life, a life he had caught glimpses of since they had left the oasis, and he could barely wait to find out what it would be like.

Tango smiled softly at him before he asked, "How's your magic doing?"

Impulse had to consider it for a moment. More of his magic had leaked out since they had left Rhee and the others, but so far it hadn't become overwhelming. He had tried to fortify the mental wall that held it back but he wasn't sure if it had worked.

"It's still coming," he said truthfully. "But it's not overwhelming."

Tango nodded. "That's good."

He reached out to take Impulse's hand and squeezed it gently.

Impulse knew that Tango worried, his increasing magic made him ever more aware of his surroundings even when he wasn't focussing on it, and the usually steady flame of Tango's life force was flickering a little more these days, stirred by his worry. Impulse did his best to soothe it, but it didn't help much. He smiled gently at Tango now, squeezing back.

"One day at a time," he said.

Tango laughed at his own words being repeated back at him. "I know," he said, "I still worry."

"I know. I can feel it."

"We'll talk to Xisuma. Maybe he knows how to help."

Impulse nodded. "A week and a half," he said.

"A week and a half."

They smiled at each other, before Tango took a deep breath and started laying out the rest of their journey.

They followed the road as it twisted along hill tops and shallow valleys, interspersed with the occasional village. Snefjella was more densely populated than Finis, but not quite as densely as Pesara had been. This was the most fertile region of the country, and apart from a few patches of forest here and there the woods that had been native to the area had long been cut down to create fields and pastures. It was peaceful and prosperous. Snefjella was known for its formidable warriors, but the true wealth of the country lay in its ordinary people, the farmers and merchants, who used the times of peace as best as they could. The country was cut in half by a majestic mountain range in which miners dug for any resources they could find, from iron and coal to precious stones. The Hermitlands also lay in these mountains, further north of the border, their central point a plateau high in the mountains with a town on it. The town had adopted the name Hermitville at some point, because it was located underneath the castle that made up the entrance to the Hermitage.

And further northwest on the other side of the mountain rage was the capital and the residence of the queen. Snefjella had always been reigned over by a queen, and outside of the country there had always been whispers that the queens of Snefjella had powers over ice and snow. But the Snefjellans were loyal to a fault and no one had ever confirmed the rumours.

According to Tango the rumours were true. Stress could control ice if she wanted to. But she rarely used her powers, unless it was to help her people. They had been one of the reasons why she had allowed the Hermits to settle in her country. It was an open secret among the people that she was also a Hermit, but their loyalty extended to that fact as well, and they had welcomed them with open arms to the extent that the Hermitlands considered themselves as much Snefjellans as loyal to the Hermits. In turn the Hermits did their best to be worthy of that loyalty and support them as best as they could. They were happy to give back to the community that had given them a home, and anyone in need knew they could always count on them to help if they asked for it.

It already showed on their journey through the southern part of the country. People obviously recognised Tango, and even if they didn't know Impulse, they included him in their welcomes. Tango seemed almost a little embarrassed when it happened, but he was happy to listen to anyone who approached them.

Some people just asked for news from the road, others who seemed to know of his talent for story telling asked him to share stories, which he was happy to do, yet others told of their worries and problems, and Tango promised to discuss them with Xisuma and Stress when they got home. Impulse tended to hang back a little during those talks, though he always listened attentively. He liked watching Tango like this, his obvious drive to help and do the best he could made it all the more rewarding, and his humility when someone asked him to talk of his own exploits made Impulse smile fondly.

They travelled straight north for a week, almost skimming along the Eastern edge of the country, the hills started to get a little higher and steeper the further north, and the closer the mountains moved to the border.

They reached the crossroads on the evening of their seventh day in Snefjella. A small city called Vatten had sprung up where the road north crossed the main road that connected the Eastern part of Snefjella with the mountains and the lands beyond. It was on the Western shore of a large lake, right where the Fjallvatten River flowed into the lake. The road west followed along the banks of the river, which also marked the edge of the Hermitlands closer to the mountains.

Tango’s excitement to get home seemed to grow every day, and his smiles grew wider the closer they got, his laughs a little louder, and his steps a little lighter. The river flowed steadily to their right, weeping willows and poplars along its banks. There was only one village between Vatten and the bridge into the Hermitlands on the southern bank of the river, but neither of them minded camping out in the open for the one night in between. Despite the closures on the western road they met only few other travellers, and there were hours when the only beings they saw were ducks and herons.

They set up their camp at the edge of a small forest, and when Impulse closed his eyes and breathed in he could almost believe he was back in the woods of his childhood. He could feel his magic stir at the thought, but he paid it no heed, because Tango cupped his cheek, and a moment later he leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss.

Impulse smiled into it and wrapped his arms around Tango’s waist, moving in until their bodies were pressed together. It was easy to tilt his head just so and to deepen the kiss. Tango made a surprised sound but he welcomed him eagerly, his hands wandering lower along his body until he could lift Impulse up and press him against the closest tree. Impulse let out a low groan, and he could feel the smirk tugging at Tango’s lips, before Impulse wrapped his legs around his hips and pulled them closer together. Tango broke the kiss with a gasp, and when Impulse opened his eyes, he could see the lust burn deep in his red eyes. Tango caught his breath and leaned back in, stopping just short of kissing Impulse.

“Anyone could see us,” he said, voice low.

“I know,” Impulse replied.

He pulled Tango back in the rest of the way, making him groan. He felt reckless right now, all that mattered was Tango, and Tango’s lips on his, Tango’s hands tugging at his clothes until he was touching bare skin. Impulse gasped at the contact and this time Tango was definitely smirking into the kiss. Impulse nipped at his lip in retaliation, but by then Tango’s hand had reached his ribs and nothing else mattered anymore.

Neither of them stayed up to hold watch that night. They slept tightly wrapped around each other next to the dying fire, Tango’s arm in a possessive hold around Impulse, their legs entwined.

The night was peaceful around them, the usual night sounds of the forest muted, the river flowing almost silently in its bed on the other side of the road.

Tango didn’t know what had woken him at first, until he realised that it was almost too silent around them. It was as if the forest was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.

The next thing he realised was that Impulse had started to move in his sleep, muttering senselessly under his breath, and Tango hadn’t noticed until now, but Impulse’s body had gotten warmer. He would have put it down to his own body temperature running high, if the almost completely burned down fire hadn’t suddenly gone brighter, the flames growing again as Tango watched with wide eyes.

He could barely process what he was seeing when suddenly there was a pressure on his mind, almost as if something was violently crashing into it, and he winced in pain. In the next moment something tore through his mind, magical and powerful and unstoppable, a force like he had never felt. It felt like he was burning, no, like he was turning into flames, like he was losing all physical boundaries of his body and becoming the fire that somehow was burning even brighter now. Then he passed out.

He was alone when he woke up. His head was bursting with pain, but the absence of another body in his arms hurt him almost as much. He opened his eyes very slowly, just to realise that he was still at their campsite. He tried to move, but it turned out that it wasn’t just his head that was in pain; every muscle in his body seemed to ache, and when he finally managed to move his head, he realised that the ground around him was burnt, every last bit of grass turned into ash, their packs and bedrolls gone just like the remnants of their camp fire. The pants he had been wearing had survived somehow, but other than that he was lying naked on the ground. There was a sound from the tree line, and with a lot of effort he managed to turn his head enough to see Blaze cautiously coming out of the woods, his nostrils flared. Ghast was behind him, looking around like she was searching for the one who was missing.

Blaze slowly walked over the burnt ground, until he had reached him, and got down. The horse waited patiently until he managed to move enough to hold on to his mane and hoist himself onto Blaze’s back as he got back up. He had to close his eyes against the pain, but he could hear Ghast neigh sadly somewhere close by, and the sound Blaze made in reply, before he slowly started to walk, doing his best not to jostle the man on his back.

He faded in and out of consciousness all day, barely aware that Blaze was steadily carrying him in the right direction. (The wrong direction. Away. Why did he carry him away?) Sometimes he caught glimpses of Ghast, sticking close, always there to prevent him from slipping to the side when he needed it. He was dimly aware that the ground changed under Blaze’s hooves as he waded through the river, and then the incline up the hill behind it.

There were voices he thought, but they seemed far away, until one was right next to him, saying his name, asking him for…something. Strong arms lifted him off the back of the horse, a grunt before a second pair of hands helped carry his weight.

He was put in a bed, and there was a flurry of activity, before his consciousness slipped from his grasp again.

Before the darkness took him again there was a whisper in his mind.

A name.

And one unchangeable fact.

Impulse hadn’t made it.


	9. Mist and Twilight

The beating of their horses’ hooves on the ground and the wind in his face were the only things that kept Zedaph’s thoughts from spinning. He had been worried ever since Kell had sent word that Tango had appeared at the inn, barely conscious, and looking like something bad had happened. Wels had taken one look at him and had said they’d leave immediately, and Xisuma had only nodded, the worry just as clear in his face as it was in everyone else’s.

“I’ll see if I can reach Ex,” he had said. “Maybe he’s close enough to help. We’ll see about informing everyone else later.”

They all nodded. They were a family, they stood together in times of crisis.

Xisuma had dismissed the meeting after that, hurrying off to his office to contact his brother, while everyone else started talking all over each other.

Wels pressed a gentle kiss to Zed’s temple and said, “You go get the horses ready, I’ll grab what we need from the farm.”

Zed had nodded, and squeezed Wels’ hand before he squared his shoulders and followed him out of the door, turning to walk in the opposite direction from him to get down to the stables. He hadn’t realised that Mumbo had followed him until he fell into step next to him.

“I’ll help you with the horses,” he had said, at Zed’s surprised look.

They had worked in silence, and when Wels had joined them he had given Mumbo’s arm a quick, reassuring squeeze.

“We’ll bring him back,” he had said, before handing Zed his pack and taking his horse from Mumbo. They secured their packs to their saddles, and mounted and with a last set of reassuring smiles, Zed’s probably a little more strained than Wels’s, they rode out of the courtyard and down along the road that would take them to Kell’s inn.

They had ridden as fast as they could, the mountain road too steep to let their horses run at full speed.

Luckily the road had been mostly empty, so they could overtake any travellers in front of them.

They had sped up the horses as soon as they had left the mountains and come down into the foothills where the road got a little more even, and they didn’t slow down until they reached the inn.

Kell was already waiting outside for them with his sons, who immediately took their horses’ reigns when they dismounted.

“How is he doing?” Zedaph asked.

“He’s regained consciousness,” Kell said. “But he’s still in pain, I think. I don’t know for sure, because he doesn’t talk, just lies there staring at the wall.”

Zed exchanged a worried look with Wels. This didn’t sound like Tango at all.

“Any idea what happened?” Wels asked, sounding much calmer than Zedaph felt.

Kell shook his head. “He turned up out of nowhere, barely holding on to that horse of his. There was another one with him, beautiful thing she is, but no one else. One of the fishermen came by earlier and told me there was something weird down on the other side of the forest, my best guess is that whatever happened it was there.”

Wels nodded. He shot Zed a look, and said, “If we delay a day I can go down there and check it out, while you stay with him.”

Zed was about to agree with him when there was a soft vhwooping sound, and Ex walked through the gate into the courtyard.

“No need for that, I was already there,” he said. “I came as fast as I could after X reached me.”

He wasn’t wearing his helmet, and there were deep lines of worry and exhaustion cut into his face, but when they gave him questioning looks, he shook his head.

“We should talk to the horses first before we go up to see him,” he said. “Maybe they can shed some light on what happened.”

“Be my guests, they’re in the stables, wouldn’t leave each other’s sides so they’re sharing a box,” Kell said, motioning towards the stables. “My boys did their best to take care of them.”

Zed took a deep breath. “Then I guess we’ll better go.”

He led the way, Wels sticking close to his side, Ex behind them. The two horses were huddled close to each other, a beautiful grey mare, whose head hung low standing next to Blaze, who barely perked up when he saw them.

“The mare’s name is Ghast,” Ex said quietly. “She’s Impulse’s.”

Zed nodded, before he stepped close, slowly reaching out to let Blaze sniff at his hand. Only when Blaze had done that did he step inside the box with him and Ghast. Zed rested his hand against his neck, stepping as close as he dared as he whispered, “What happened buddy? Can you show me?”

Blaze made an almost pained sound, but when Zed closed his eyes, he was pulled right into the memory of what happened. It was confusing, Blaze had been asleep in the beginning, and he had only woken up when the fire had gotten hotter and brighter, and his instincts kicked in. He and Ghast had panicked and fled into the forest, but not before he had caught a glimpse of Tango right in the middle of it, lying by the campfire, his form starting to blur, whether it was because of the heat or something else, Zedaph couldn’t tell. The horses had only walked back to the clearing when the new day was already dawning, and they had found nothing but ash and Tango lying in the middle of it, unconscious.

Blaze cut off there, and Zed swallowed when he opened his eyes again.

“Thank you,” he said, gently stroking along Blaze’s neck. Blaze snorted before looking down at Ghast, who hadn’t acknowledged Zed at all so far.

Zed nodded and bent down so he was closer to Ghast’s head. She didn’t react when he reached out, and when he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on her emotions and her thoughts, he found a deep well of grief. Zed had to swallow, and he gently moved closer until he could lift her head enough to wrap his arms around her neck. Zed had never met Impulse, but he had rarely met a horse that was so attached to its owner. He waited patiently until Ghast showed at least some sign of realising that he was there, and only then did he let go of her.

“She needs time,” he told Blaze. “She’s grieving.”

He gave both of them a last stroke along the neck, before he left them there, Blaze hopefully trying to push some hay towards Ghast that she sniffed at before she took a small bite at least.

Zedaph smiled at them, and closed the box before rejoining Wels and Ex.

“He couldn’t tell me much,” he said lowly so no one could overhear them. “There was fire, but I don’t think it was natural. They both panicked and when they returned to the camp site, they only found Tango. And she…she’s grieving for Impulse.”

Ex nodded. “That explains the completely burned down campsite I found.”

Wels looked between them and said, “Maybe we should see if Tango is willing to say anything.”

Zed and Ex both nodded.

“Let’s…let’s see how he is doing,” Zed said, and Wels gave his hand a quick squeeze before they all left the stables and crossed over to the main building.

Kell lead them up the stairs and to the room Tango was in. It was the last one along the hallway, tucked into a corner where it was relatively quiet. Zed took a deep breath before he pushed the door open. Sure, they were all family, but Tango was his best friend, and he couldn't help the extra spike of worry.

Tango was half sitting, but his head was turned so he could stare at the wall, just like Kell had said. He didn’t even react when they walked in, and Wels held Ex back while Zed approached.

“Tango?” he said softly, as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

For a moment he thought Tango hadn’t even heard him, but then his head turned slowly, and Zed had to swallow at the look in his eyes. He had never seen the red so dull, so…so lifeless. There was a world of heartbreak in there that Zed couldn’t even begin to understand.

Before he could say anything about it Tango moved and curled into him. Zed wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close and held him as he cried.

It took a while for Tango to get the story out, but Zed was patient with him, and by the time it was dark outside Tango had tired himself out with crying and talking. Zed had already tried to get him to eat, but he had declined any food, and Zed had let it slide for the day.

He helped Tango lie down and gently kissed his forehead.

“I’ll go down and have dinner, okay?” he said.

“’S okay. Tell Wels and Ex I said hi,” Tango murmured.

"I will," Zed promised, before he got up and left the room as quietly as possible.

Wels and Ex were waiting for him downstairs, and Wels pulled him into his side as soon as he sat down.

"He's sleeping now," Zed said. "He wouldn't eat, but he told me what happened at least."

He paused to thank Kell for the bowl of stew he brought over, before he told them everything he had learned from Tango.

Ex looked sad by the time he was done.

"I met them in Hafa when they stopped there," he said. "Impulse is...was a good man. They were already close then. I can only imagine how much closer they got since.”

"Tango mentioned they were soulmates," Zed said quietly.

"Yeah," Ex confirmed. "It was the talk of the town when I met them. I don't know the whole story, but they went to see Tango's mother on the way. Everyone was talking about it, the crown prince returning and bringing along a soulmate."

"He once told me he thought he'd never find his soulmate. For him to find Impulse and lose him again so soon...I can't even imagine what he's going through."

Wels squeezed his shoulder gently. "We don't have to. We just have to be there for him," he said.

Zed nodded silently, stirring his stew with his spoon as he leaned more into Wels.

"Eat," Wels said gently, and with a sigh Zed did as he was told. It wouldn't help Tango if he starved himself as well.

It took Zed a bit of convincing to coax Tango out of bed the next morning, but he somehow managed it and even got him to eat. Wels watched as they came down the stairs. Tango looked small, defeated, but he was up and that counted for something, Wels guessed. When they had reached the bottom of the stairs he stepped in and pulled Tango into a hug. It was all the comfort he could offer right now, but Tango looked almost thankful for it.

Ex was outside helping Kell's sons with their horses, and Wels saw the sad look in his eyes when they stepped outside. He was holding Blaze and Ghast, who looked up when she heard their steps and neighed softly. Tango stepped close to her, putting one hand on her cheek and leaning his head against hers.

“I know,” he said.

She snorted in reply, and when Tango stepped away from her he looked over at Ex.

“Can you take Blaze maybe?” he asked, and Ex nodded silently, handing Ghast’s reigns to Tango.

Wels turned to Zed, who was still standing with Kell.

"Thank you for taking care of him," he was just saying, and Kell shrugged.

"It's nothing. You just make sure he gets home safely so he can heal up properly," he said.

"We will."

Zed turned away and smiled at Wels, before he came over and took his horse's reigns from him. They mounted, and Wels led the way out onto the road, Zed and then Tango behind him, Ex bringing up the rear. It was time to go home.

Tango seemed exhausted by the time they reached the Hermitage. Ex had watched him the entire ride, almost slouching on Ghast's back, his pose mirroring the mare's. It was hard to watch, especially after seeing him with Impulse two months prior. They had been comfortable with each other, a unit already when they had only met weeks before. It was hard to see Tango now, looking as if part of him was missing. Ex had been worried about a lot of things when he had met them, the road through Pesara wasn’t safe for any of the Hermits, and Finis had its environmental challenges, but their cover story had been solid, and he trusted Tango to know how to handle Finis. He hadn’t expected whatever had happened to them at the edge of that forest.

The campsite had looked bad. There was really nothing left but ash. Ex had stood in the middle of it and asked himself what kind of fire could have done this. He hadn’t managed to figure it out yet, and he hadn’t wanted to share his thoughts with Zed and Wels. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, but rather that he didn’t want to worry either of them more than he had to. No, it was better to wait and discuss it with his brother first.

He was still thinking about that fire when they rode into the lower courtyard of the Hermitage, Tango’s return home subdued when there should have been excitement about a new Hermit.

Mumbo was waiting for them, looking worried, and Ex had to suppress a sigh. Mumbo was the youngest among them, young enough when he had joined that the moustache he was wearing now was nothing but a far off dream. He had grown up a lot since he had become part of their family, but sometimes in times like these it still showed how young he truly was.

Zedaph gave him a strained smile when they had dismounted, and shook his head when Mumbo’s eyes flicked to Tango. Zed gently took Tango’s arm and led him through the gate house and up the path to take him home.

Ex secured Blaze’s and Ghast’s reigns and he was about to loosen Ghast’s saddle, when Mumbo approached him.

“Xisuma asked me to tell you to come to him as soon as you got back,” he said. “I’ll take care of the horses.”

“I’ll go then,” Ex said with a nod. He hesitated before he said, “The white one is Ghast. Be gentle with her, she’s grieving.”

Mumbo nodded, and as he walked away towards the gate house, Ex heard him talk to Ghast in a low, gentle voice.

He followed the path up to the second courtyard and from there around another bend to the third and smallest courtyard in front of the main castle building. It towered above him, and he couldn’t help the fond smile when he thought back to how he and Xisuma had built it. There had been a lot of bickering, not just about the building itself, but Ex’s attitude. He had hated his brother some of those days, but in the end they had both worked out their differences. They had their own growing up to do, and they had had their growing pains, but they had got there. And as others had joined them, they had both found and grown into their roles.

They had never had much of a family except for each other, and the fierceness with which they came to love the Hermits had surprised both of them. Xisuma had thrown himself into organising their little family, into providing them with food and shelter and everything they needed to survive. Meanwhile Ex had channelled his protectiveness into gathering information to make sure they were as safe as they could be. He had honed his skills, and he had learned to gather information where he could, to assess it and to figure out what to pass on to Xisuma or whoever needed it.

People said he was the spy master of the Hermits, but really, he was _the_ spy. There was no one else, it was just him, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Xisuma’s office was high up in the castle, the windows looking out over Hermitville, and not for the first time Ex was tempted to just teleport up there. Unlike his brother he didn’t just use his teleportation powers for emergencies, but Xisuma had asked him to hold back at the Hermitage and Ex respected that.

He took a moment to catch his breath when he reached the right level of the castle, before he approached Xisuma’s door and knocked.

Xisuma looked up when he entered, and while he smiled, it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Have you slept at all since you found out?” Ex asked with a sigh.

Xisuma smiled sheepishly. “Not really. What happened?"

"I'm not sure," Ex admitted as he fell down into the chair in front of Xisuma's desk. "Their campsite burned. Nothing was left. Just Tango."

"That doesn't sound normal." Xisuma frowned.

"I...I saw the remains. I don't think this was just a fire."

"Magic?"

"Most likely. But I could not say what kind."

"Impulse didn't make it."

"He didn't. It's…" Ex bit his lip. "He was Tango's soulmate."

Xisuma was quiet for a moment. "How is he doing?"

"He isn't well. He's worse than when he joined. Zed got him to talk about it, but… I don’t think he’ll recover soon.”

“We’ll support him however we can. It’s all we can do right now.”

Ex nodded. “Have you reached everyone?”

“Yes. Stress and False are coming as soon as they can. Doc and Ren weren’t sure how long it would take them to finish. Cub and Scar already came back.” Xisuma sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Are you staying?”

“Yes,” Ex said. “I have a feeling that this isn’t over.”

Xisuma nodded. “Joe said something similar. He doesn’t see clearly he says, but something is brewing.”

“I was afraid he’d say that.” Ex watched his brother for a moment. “Is there anything important you have to do right now?”

“Well TFC brought the supply list the other day, I still need to re-”

“No,” Ex said. “I meant actually important. The supply list can wait.”

“I…not really no,” Xisuma admitted.

“That’s what I thought.” Ex nodded and got up. “Come on then, we’re going to get some rest.”

“But…” Xisuma tried to protest, but he let out a resigned sigh at the look Ex gave him. “Alright. I’m coming.”

He got up and when Ex held the door open for him he passed him with a wry smile. Ex rolled his eyes at him. It was typical for him to not get enough sleep. Luckily for him Ex was more responsible.

Zed had breathed a sigh of relief when he had finally gotten Tango into his own bed. He had looked like he was ready to keel over by the time they had reached the nether brick building just south of Zed's and Wels's farm. The large balcony opening into the coloured glass dome that held a loving recreation of both nether forest biomes, complete with lava pools was almost stifling as always. The only reminder that this wasn't the Nether Tango had grown up in were the large glass windows on the other side of the room through which he could see the plateau of the Hermitage stretch out below. Tango had barely managed to take off his cloak before he collapsed into bed, and Zed tugged off his boots for him and put everything to the side.

"Do you need anything?" he asked gently, before Tango could fall asleep.

Tango turned his head, at least looking like he considered it, before he said, "No. Just...can you stay?"

"Of course," Zed said. He tugged off his own boots, and got a chair from out on the balcony to sit down with him. "I'll be right here."

"Thank you."

Zed reached out and took the hand that was at the edge of the bed, a quiet reassurance. Tango squeezed back weakly, before he released Zed's hand and mustered up the energy to worm his way under the blanket and closed his eyes. Zed waited until his breaths evened out, before he got up and went down to the kitchen on soft feet. He was sure someone had brought over food while they were gone, and even if Tango didn’t have an appetite now, he would get hungry eventually. Besides, if Zed was going to stay with him, he needed to eat and drink. From the looks of it it had been Joe and Cleo, who had been by with a wild assortment of vegetables, and when he checked someone had even refilled the pitcher of drinking water.

He was in the living room, sure that he had left a book the last time he was here when there was a soft knock on the door. Wels stood outside when he opened, a basket with bread and a jar of butter in his hand.

"I thought I'd find you here," he said when he stepped inside. "And since Mumbo said Joe and Cleo handled the restocking, I thought I'd bring you this at least."

He put the basket down on the kitchen table and leaned in for a quick kiss.

"Is there anything else you need?"

Zed smiled. "Something to pass the time would be nice. Tango's asleep for now.”

“I’ll bring you a book. And I’ll see if anyone can stay with him over night so you can catch some sleep later.”

“Thank you."

Wels smiled gently and stepped in to pull him close.

"Anything for you," he said. "You're his best friend, he needs you now."

"I know." Zed closed his eyes, leaning into the embrace, and he could feel Wels' lips against his temple, before he released him again.

"I'll better get you that book," Wels said, and Zed nodded.

“I’ll be upstairs,” he said. “Just come up when you get back.”

Wels nodded and leaned back in for another quick kiss, before he left.

Zed was still smiling when he picked up the loaf of bread.

Xisuma didn’t wake up until the next morning, which was a sure sign that his brother had been right about forcing him to sleep. They had curled up together, like when they were kids, partly because Ex knew that Xisuma needed the company when he was worried, partly because Ex didn’t trust him not to sneak out of bed again the moment he turned his back.

He was probably right to, Xisuma thought, considering all the times he had done just that before his brother had learned his lesson. Ex was still fast asleep when Xisuma woke, which was not at all surprising. He had been somewhere out East when Xisuma had reached him, and even with teleportation that kind of distance must have taken out a lot of him. Cautiously, doing his best not to wake Ex, he got out of bed, and padded down into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

By the time he had brewed tea and got the honey jar out Ex had woken up and wandered into the kitchen, still yawning. He took his mug of honey-sweetened tea from Xisuma, and took a sip, before putting it down on the table and helping him by cutting the bread.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, Ex still waking up, and Xisuma quietly working out everything he had to do for the day. It was a comfortable routine for them, one that Xisuma missed sometimes on the days when his brother was gone, off somewhere in the world, trying to keep them all safe. He relished in it now, the quiet companionship something to ground him when really all he wanted to do was to throw himself into his work to distract himself from the family member that lay in his home across the plateau, hurt in ways Xisuma couldn’t even begin to understand.

From the way Ex scowled into his tea this morning, he was thinking about it as well. Xisuma knew his brother well enough to know that he hated having to sit around waiting, unable to actually do anything to help, and from the way he spoke about him Xisuma understood that Ex had liked Impulse enough to start feeling like he belonged to the family.

He was trying to figure out what to tell Ex when there was a knock on the door. He got up and opened to find Scar outside, looking worried.

“Good morning,” he said as soon as he saw Xisuma. “It’s… Cub sent me to get you. We’ve been watching Tango over night, and… we… we think something’s wrong.”

Xisuma exchanged a look with Ex, who suddenly looked wide awake, and said, “We’ll be right there.”


	10. Cloud and Shade

The first thing Xisuma noticed when they entered Tango’s house was that it was warmer than usual. He hadn’t thought it possible with the lava pools, but it was somehow hotter and even more stifling.

When they entered the bedroom they found Cub and Stress by the bed, both looking worried.

"I can try the ice, but I doubt it's gonna work," Stress was saying.

Cub bit his lip. "I just don't know what else to do. Nothing I tried has worked so far." He looked up when he heard them, looking relieved that they had arrived.

"What’s going on?” Xisuma asked, looking between them.

“Tango developed a fever over night,” Cub said. “At least that’s what I think it is. But I’ve tried everything to bring it down somehow and nothing takes.”

Xisuma frowned and joined them by the bed.

“We were finking of cooling him down a little wif ma ice,” Stress said. “But I’m not sure it’s gonna work.”

Xisuma nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Tango was passed out, but he was moving and occasionally muttering, nonsensically. When Xisuma touched his skin he felt like he almost burned himself.

With a frown he tapped into his own magic, magic he only used in emergencies, and winced. Whatever it was, it wasn't a normal fever. There was a concentration of magic around Tango that he had rarely seen in his life, bright and hot like a volcano almost. He could feel a hand on his shoulder, steadying him, and Cub's voice saying his name, and he concentrated on Cub's vex magic for a moment; wild and chaotic as it was, it was familiar at least.

He took a deep breath and released his magic again. At the edge of the room False and Scar steadied Ex, who rubbed his forehead as if he was in pain. Their eyes met and Xisuma knew that Ex had seen it as well. He turned back to Cub and Stress.

“I think you’re right Stress. Your ice probably won’t help. I don’t think this is something we can deal with on our own,” he said.

The two of them exchanged a look, before Cub asked, “Then what can we do?”

Xisuma got up. “We’ll have to ask his mother for help,” he said. He looked to Stress, silently asking for her permission to get the other queen involved.

“Do whatever you need to help ‘im,” she said, nodding decisively.

“You know I will,” he said, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, before he looked to his brother, who had shaken off the pain, and straightened up now, following him out of the room.

Xisuma didn't take long to write the letter and sealed it with the Hermit's official seal, before getting up from his desk.

"Now we just need to get this delivered," he said.

"I can do it," Ex said from the chair he had sat in, silently watching as Xisuma had written.

"No. You're not quite recovered yet, and we need you at your best."

Ex grumbled a little before he asked, "Then how do we get it there in time?"

"Don't worry, I have a plan." Xisuma smiled, and Ex grumbled something about him acting all mysterious before he got up to follow.

Xisuma led him down into the armoury, digging through their supplies until he had come up with two sets of gold armour. Ex raised an eyebrow, but he put it on without complaint. Their next stop was the vault where he picked up a decently sized amount of gold, before they stepped out of the castle and followed the short path that led them to the long stairwell all the way down to the Nether portal room.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Ex said on the way down.

"I do. You know I like to be prepared for eventualities," Xisuma reminded him mildly.

Ex sighed. "I do. I just feel obliged to make sure once in a while."

Xisuma smiled. "Thank you for keeping me on my toes."

Ex snorted, but he didn't say anything until they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"One moment," he said before Xisuma could approach the portal. "I got something that will help. I hope."

He opened the ender chest in the corner, rooting through the things he kept inside until he pulled out a small trinket that he let vanish into his pocket before Xisuma could see it properly.

"Now we can go," he said, and Xisuma nodded before he finally stepped into the portal.

They stepped out into a large vaulted room, built from basalt and blackstone. To one side a door led through to the tunnel that connected the Hermitage to the capital, but across from the portal a gate led them out into the open Nether. It wasn't far from here to a Piglin settlement they bartered with on occasion, and that was the path Xisuma chose now.

The leader of the settlement was already waiting for them when they approached, staring them down silently but showing no sign of hostility.

"I have a request to make of you," Xisuma said when they reached him. "For the right payment of course."

The Piglin leader grunted, and Xisuma held out the letter he had written.

"I need you to send someone to deliver this to the djinn realm as fast as possible." He pulled out the gold. "And this as payment."

The Piglin leader took the gold, examining it before he grunted out a call and one of the other Piglins approached to take the letter.

Before they could leave Ex stepped forward, handing over the trinket he had taken from his ender chest earlier.

"Take this as well. Show it at the gate, they'll know who to send for."

The Piglin nodded, and let it vanish somewhere along with the letter, before they turned away, and walked off towards the lava lake.

“Thank you,” Xisuma said to the leader, who just nodded before turning away, clearly dismissing them.

Xisuma waited until the Piglin village had disappeared around a bend in the path before he said, "So you have no contacts at the djinn court."

Ex rolled his eyes. "I never said that."

"You implied it." Xisuma smiled wryly.

"I have one. He'll help. I'm not sure this is what he had in mind but he'll help."

"You're not going to tell me who it is, are you?"

Ex smirked at him. "Now that would be betraying a source, and I can't do that."

Xisuma snorted but he didn't question it. If his brother wanted to be mysterious about this he'd let him.

When he had been told there was a message waiting for him at the northern most gate, he hadn’t been sure what to expect. And even if he had had an idea it definitely wouldn’t have been a Piglin messenger, their strider sitting on the lava close by. The guards at the gate eyed them a little warily, and their captain side-eyed Ramal before he went out.

“Are you sure you want to go out there?” she asked.

Ramal raised an eyebrow at her, making sure she understood that he didn’t like to be questioned by someone ranked lower than him, but that he wouldn’t call her out on it. He didn’t have to explain himself to her, and he wasn’t going to, so he just shrugged and stepped through the gate.

“I’m Ramal,” he said when he was close enough to the Piglin. “I’m the one that token was for.”

The Piglin grunted and pulled a letter from a satchel hanging at their side. They held it so he could see it but made no move to hand it over. Ramal reached into his pocked to pull out a few gold coins. He handed them over and after examining them, the messenger nodded and gave him the letter along with the token they had been given. A glance at the letter showed him that the message was addressed to the queen.

“I will see that it is delivered,” he said, and the messenger nodded again, before they turned abruptly and walked back towards their strider. Ramal waited until they had mounted it before he turned around himself and walked back to the gate, letting the token disappear in a pocket, and tucking he letter away safely. He didn’t recognise the handwriting, but there was something familiar about the form of the letters, like they were written by someone who had learned to write a completely different script first.

The captain eyed him curiously when he returned, but he ignored her in favour of mounting his horse that was still waiting for him in a corner of the courtyard.

“Thank you for calling me here,” he said to the captain. “But I have things to attend to now.”

She nodded and saluted, but he was already riding back out onto the road, spurring his horse on until she flew like the wind.

The queen had already retired to her rooms for the evening when he returned to the palace, but he was let inside immediately to deliver the message personally.

He watched the queen’s face as she read the letter, going from pained to sad to worried. When she was done she looked up at Ramal and asked, "What can you tell me about the Hermits?" He blinked in surprise and she waved her hand. "I know I've never asked, I know what my son told me, and I know that you were never concerned about him joining them. But I'm asking now."

"They are trustworthy. Xisuma is a good man, and he and the others will do anything to protect each other. Whatever he has written you can trust it."

"And the diplomatic implications?"

"They have the ear of Queen Stress and her support. If he wants us to get involved in something he has her backing."

Queen Malika nodded. "I need you to go to them. Something has happened to Tango and Impulse and they need our help. Xisuma writes that they don’t know what exactly happened but they believe Impulse is dead, and they cannot help with whatever is wrong with my son. You are his friend, but you are also your mother’s son, and I know she has taught you well.” She hesitated. “And if you can, try to find out what happened to Impulse.”

Ramal swallowed, but he nodded. “I’ll leave as soon as I can,” he said.

“Ride like the wind. Help them however you can.”

“I will.” Ramal nodded again, before he hurried out of the room, already thinking about what he would need for the journey.

It had been almost two weeks since Xisuma had sent his message to the djinn queen, and Ex started to get antsy. He realised that it was far, but he just couldn’t help it. Tango had shown no sign of getting better, but at least he was also not getting worse as far as any of them could tell. Stress had summoned some of her unmelting ice to cool down Tango’s bedroom enough that they could sit with him for a few hours, but it had only barely helped.

Ex had needed some time alone to brood, and so he was pacing along the main castle wall, right above the gate, trying not to let his impatience get the best of him.

He stopped and leaned against the wall with his arms resting on top of it, looking out over the road and into the distance. He knew that there was nothing he could do, but it was frustrating to just sit around and wait for something to happen or for help to arrive. He was pulled out of his thoughts by a commotion on the road, and when he shielded his eyes, trying to see better what was going on, he noticed a gust of wind with far too much sense of direction to be natural that was travelling up the road to the Hermitage.

It solidified into a figure on a horse about half-way up the hill and Ex breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that help was finally here.

He was surprised when Ramal rode into the courtyard, though he should maybe have expected him. He was Tango’s friend after all, and Ex knew that he had the trust of Queen Malika.

Ramal got off his horse, and Ex couldn’t help himself, he stepped in and hugged him tightly.

“It’s good to see you,” he said. “Though I wish the circumstances were better.”

Ramal smiled gently. "It was good you used that token I gave you. I could get your brother's message directly to the queen."

"I thought so. Let's get your horse sorted and I can take you to Xisuma."

Ramal nodded, but before he could say anything someone cleared their throat and said, "I can take care of the horse."

Jevin was standing in the door to the armoury, a cleaning rag hanging from his blue fingers and watching them with a curious look on his face.

Ex decided not to think too hard on it so he just nodded at him. "That would be good, thank you."

"Don't worry about it." Jevin wiped his fingers and put the rag down inside the door before he came out. "Tango needs help now. I can clean my armour later."

If Ramal was surprised to see a humanoid blue slime he didn't show it, he just nodded. "It's very much appreciated. She doesn't need much, just some water and food."

Jevin nodded to show he understood, and Ramal fell into step with Ex to follow him to Xisuma's office.

Xisuma was talking to Stress when they walked in, the queen sitting comfortable in the chair Ex usually occupied. Since she was spending more time at the Hermitage than usual, she had forgone the usual dresses she wore for court in favour of a much more practical pair of soft leather pants, and a light pink sweater that Ex was fairly sure Zed had made for her. Her dark brown curls bounced with the movement when she turned her head, curious about the newcomers.

“Xisuma, Stress, this is Ramal, Queen Malika of the djinn sent him to help us. Ramal, this my brother Xisuma and Queen Stress of Snefjella,” Ex said, feeling far too formal.

Ramal bowed before Stress, and inclined his head towards Xisuma. “My queen sends her greetings to both of you. She had hoped to make her first correspondence with you a happier one.”

“So had we,” Xisuma said, with a glance at Stress who nodded silently.

With the formalities out of the way, Ramal’s stance relaxed, and he asked, “How is he?”

“He developed some sort of fever about a week and a half ago,” Xisuma said. “It feels like he’s burning up, but his temperature is constant since then.”

Ramal frowned. “A fever you say? I can’t remember him ever having a fever before.”

“I don’t think he has had one since he joined either,” Ex said. “But Cub might know more about that.”

“I think Scar forced him to sleep finally, but we can ask him when he wakes up,” Xisuma said.

Stress smiled kindly at Ramal as she got up. “I’m sure you wanna see ‘im. I’ll take you, I need to fetch False anyways.”

"Thank you it would be much appreciated."

Ex stepped away from the wall he was leaning against. "I'll come with you. I was supposed to watch over him next anyways."

He ignored the small private smile Ramal gave him, but he couldn't help but see the way Xisuma looked between them, head cocked to the side a little like he was starting to figure something out.

"Can you show Ramal where to sleep later, brother?" Xisuma said, and Ex rolled his eyes at the look he got from him.

"I will," he said, making sure his brother saw that he was being ridiculous.

"Thank you."

"Now that that’s sorted, let's go boys," Stress said cheerfully, before she led the way out of the room.

Ex wasn't watching Ramal's face as they walked into Tango's home, but he couldn't help but notice every tiny expression that crossed it. There was a bit of a frown, followed by surprise and then a small smile when they walked into Tango's bedroom.

False was sitting by the bed, idly cleaning a dagger. She looked up when she heard them enter, smiling happily at Stress, before she saw Ex and Ramal.

“This is Ramal,” Stress said. “Tango’s mother sent him to help us.”

False smiled at him. “It’s good to have you here,” she said, getting up and putting the dagger away. “I’m False, and I guess I’m about to leave?” The last part was directed at Stress, who nodded.

“I have that dinner wif the Miner’s Guild, so we kinda need to get back,” she said apologetically, before she turned to Ramal. “It was good meetin’ you. I’m sure we’ll be around again soon.” She had her usual wide smile on her face, and Ex watched the slightly confused smile Ramal gave her in return, as if he wasn’t quite sure that it was appropriate.

Ex had to suppress a chuckle when False and Stress had left the room.

“That’s just how Stress is,” he said. “She’s different when she has to be queen, but here she’s just Stress.”

“I didn’t realise she was one of you,” Ramal admitted.

Ex shrugged. “We try to keep it a secret. Somehow no one has found out so far.”

Ramal nodded as if he understood, before he looked over at Tango, and approached his bed with a sigh. He sat down at the edge of it, putting one of his hands against Tango’s forehead. He didn’t wince at the heat, but he frowned as he pulled back his hand.

“I know what your brother meant when he said it feels like he is burning up,” Ramal said softly. He turned his head to look at Ex and asked, “What did you see?”

Ex hesitated but then he took a deep breath and said. “Fire, heat, it felt like a volcano and it was bright like the sun.”

Ramal frowned a little as he said, "So you think it's magical."

"It was the only explanation my brother and I could come up with," Ex said with a shrug. "Magic is what we see, so what else could it have been?"

Ramal hummed, but his voice was serious when he said, "I don't think I have heard of something like this before, I have some things I can test but I might have to ask my mother for advice. She is a far better scholar than I am."

Ex nodded. "Whatever you need."

"I also will have to see the place where it happened."

"I'll take you tomorrow. It's...it looked bad."

"You can tell me on the way tomorrow."

Ramal smiled softly and held out his hand.

"Now come, sit down. We'll watch over him together."

And god, Ex could never resist that smile. He came, sitting down in the chair, and they settled in for a long afternoon.

It was Mumbo who had agreed to watch over Tango that night, and Ex pulled Ramal out of the room as soon as he arrived. They should get food, and Ramal definitely would have to sleep. For a moment he considered putting him in one of the guest rooms in the castle, but then Ramal smiled at him, and Ex decided that there was a much better place to take him.

He rarely used his own home at the Hermitage. He was either gone, or crashed at Xisuma's because his idiot brother was terrible at taking care of himself and Ex was the only one who could get him to have the rest he needed. Or well he was the only one still around who could. But he tried not to think about that.

Ex had built himself a small house tucked high up against the mountains. It wasn't much, but it was a home, and he liked to be able to look down and over everyone else's houses. It was a little impractical maybe, far away from the others, but it was where he took Ramal now.

Someone must have been by to clean a little and restock his pantry, because there was far less dust than he expected, and the food in the pantry was fresh. There was a note in the kitchen, saying that Joe had been by because he thought Ex might need his house, which explained it, and Ex had to smile fondly. As erratic as he sometimes seemed, Joe's hunches were usually correct.

He showed Ramal to the only bedroom, which earned him a surprised but pleased smile.

"What?" He asked, one eyebrow raised.

Ramal shrugged. "I just wasn't sure you'd want them to know. You've been very secretive about us."

"If my brother hasn't figured it out already he will sooner or later. So why wait?"

"Your brother is very observant."

Ex shrugged. "We have grown up together." But before Ramal could step closer Ex had already made a step away from him. "Now come on let's get something to eat."

Ex used the time it took to make and eat dinner to focus and try not to get distracted by Ramal. The guy was charming, and he knew it. And somewhere along the way he had figured out exactly how to charm Ex. But he wasn't allowing it, not tonight, not when something was wrong with part of his family and they didn't know how to help them.

What he didn't expect was that Ramal wouldn't even try to be charming first. No, instead he moved in when Ex was done cleaning up after them, boxing him in against the wall, and looking up at him with a mischievous smile.

"I missed you, you know?" He said, and Ex snorted.

"It's barely been two months since you saw me."

"I know. But I have been thinking of you all this time."

And when he moved in, pressing Ex against the wall of his own home, leaning up to press their lips together Ex knew he had lost the battle again. And when Ramal tilted his head he realised he didn't actually mind.

The ground was soft under her paws when she stalked through the underbrush, her every sense honed in on her prey. She was acutely aware of the fact that she was on her own, the only one to protect and provide for the litter of pups that she had safely hidden away. She needed to catch this prey, needed to feed them so she could give them a chance and see them grow up. She was the only one left. Her family had left moons ago; had left her behind to fend for herself when she hadn't wanted to leave, but that was how these things went. They had wanted to find new hunting grounds, had finally given up on waiting. But she had felt a tug deep in her belly that had told her to hold out a bit longer.

The pups weren't her own. She did not even know where they had come from, all she did know was that she had found them, lost and alone in the woods, and she had known that she had to care for them, that they were important somehow. They were old enough to eat solid food when she found them, and she did her best to provide enough.

But their last meal was almost too long ago now and she needed to catch this prey, and so she was hunting in parts of the woods that she usually avoided. It was too close to the two-legs, and she had kept away from them for too long to dare to get close to their houses again.

She had stalked her prey for a while now, and she knew she almost had it. There was the sound of a breaking branch from somewhere and within a moment her prey was running, and she was hot on its tail. It was harder all on her own, no one there to herd the prey into the right direction, but she was experienced enough to do it. Her stride lengthened, all her pent up energy releasing at once as she shot forward.

It was a short hunt from there, her prey breaking through the underbrush out into a clearing and her making the last leap, her jaws closing around her prey's neck.

She stood above it, panting and catching her breath when she realised where she was.

She had not been to this clearing in many many moons, but the smell of fire still seemed to hang over it. The forest had started to take back what had once been part of it, but underneath the vines she could still see blackened stone.

She raised her head a little, scenting the air, and she realised there was something else, a scent she hadn't smelled in a long time, changed but still familiar. She turned her head from side to side, trying to figure out where the source was, and after a bit of searching she found the body.

He was lying motionless in the middle of a small circle of burned ground. She scented the air again, but he didn't smell dead, and she sat down, cocking her head to the side trying to decide what to do.

Her instincts told her to protect him, but she knew she also had to care for the pups, and the pups needed food. She could not carry both. She was close to the two-legs here, but the village that had been closest had been abandoned, and no one came here anymore. She huffed, and set to hiding her prey, and moving the unmoving figure somewhere where he was safer, before she took a last look at the clearing and set off again. It seemed she would have to move the pups after all.


	11. A New Road

Ex and Ramal had decided to leave early the next morning. But when Ex woke up, he was greeted by Ramal watching him with a soft smile. When he raised an eyebrow at him, Ramal’s smile only grew wider, and before he knew it, Ex was pushed onto his back, with Ramal looming over him. He got a glimpse of his pleased smile, before he dove in to kiss Ex, slow and sure, making Ex's toes curl, even as he tried to pull him closer.

Ex whined when Ramal ended the kiss, and before he could think about it he had pulled him back down and into another kiss. They had time still, he decided, and judging by Ramal's wandering hands he agreed.

They kept breakfast short, and when they finally made it over to the castle and down to the lower courtyard, Ex had a thought.

"At a normal pace it will be one day there and one day back," he said, turning to Ramal, who raised an eyebrow. "But we don't exactly have to travel at a normal pace, do we?"

"That we don't," Ramal agreed.

Ex smirked, stepping a little closer to him. "So what if we make a race of it? From here to Kell's inn at the ford at least."

"A race? And what's in it for me?"

"Oh I'm sure we can find something." Ex smiled. He was feeling a little reckless, a familiar feeling in Ramal's proximity, and there was something itching under his skin that demanded to be scratched, something he was unwilling to examine more closely. It felt dangerous to give in too much, and he had told himself over and over that he couldn't. But Ramal was right there and he felt heady with being close to him, with having him in his home and waking up next to him, and he didn't care about all of the reasons he had for not doing it.

"It's on then," Ramal said, his smile challenging. "Just let me get my horse and we can go."

Ex nodded, stepping back and heading towards the stable, Ramal following right behind him.

It was a close race, and Ex beat Ramal only by seconds. But beat him he did, and by the time Ramal solidified again next to him, Ex was already comfortably leaning against a tree.

Ramal smiled down at him from his horse and said, “Well I guess it’s me who has to think of a prize for you then.”

“I’m sure you will.”

Ramal nodded and held out a hand. “Come on up. She can carry us both. It will be easier that way.”

Ex nodded, and with the help of one of the stone markers along the road, and the hand Ramal offered, he got up and into the saddle behind him. It was a tight fit, and it took Ex a moment to adjust his seat but then they were off, through the ford and along the river. Ex wrapped his arms around Ramal and tried not to think about how close they were right now. He focused on the stride of the horse instead, the way she seemed to fly along the road in a smooth canter that was way too fast for any normal horse. They reached their destination far quicker than Ex expected, and he missed the contact almost immediately as soon as he got off the horse.

This was why he usually tried to keep the time he spent with Ramal short. Being close to him made it all the more difficult to keep his resolve and not just give in to the urge to get close. He took a deep breath and focused. Ramal had dismounted as well, and was already kneeling down, examining the ground.

"This is where it happened?" he asked.

Ex cleared his throat. "Yes. It actually still looks the same as when I came here, two days after it happened."

Ramal frowned. "I've never seen anything like this," he said. Whatever kind of fire did this, it must have been very powerful." He straightened up. "Have you looked at the magic of this place?"

"Not yet, no," Ex admitted. "When I was last here, I still thought it wasn't magical, and I was anxious to get to Tango and the others."

"Can you do it now, maybe?"

Ex was about to reply when there was a movement in the trees and someone stepped out of the forest.

Her black hair was tucked into a neat bun under her black hat, and her hands all but disappeared in the sleeves of her purple robe. A black cat weaved around her feet as she silently watched them.

Ex blinked, before he said, "Gertrude?"

The witch inclined her head and he barely even saw her move before a piece of paper hit him in the face.

He caught it before it fell to the ground, and looked down at it. 'You need to See.' she had written.

He sighed. "I know, I know. I should have done this the last time."

She nodded curtly, and Ex caught Ramal watching them curiously, but the djinn didn't ask any questions, and Ex closed his eyes.

He saw nothing. It was like staring into the Void, except the Void was thrumming with magic. Here there was just nothingness. There was the glint of Gertrude's magic, strong for a witch and weaving around the trees behind her, and next to him, moving closer, Ramal, his magic like a small contained whirlwind, tinted golden as if it was carrying gold sand. He could see specks of magic around them, just the naturally generated kind that was everywhere, but the campsite itself, the entire space that had burned was utterly devoid of it.

It was vertigo-inducing, and Ex had to take a deep breath before he let go and opened his eyes again. He was still feeling a little dizzy, but Ramal had moved in and wrapped an arm around him to steady him. Once it had passed he looked at Gertrude.

"Do you know what happened?"

She sighed and made a non-committal gesture before she pitched another note at him.

‘Inevitable’

Followed by a sad shake of her head and yet another note.

‘Too late.’

They both looked up at her with equally confused looks.

“What do you mean, ‘Too late’?” Ramal asked.

But Gertrude only gave another sad shake of her head before she turned around and disappeared back into the forest.

Ramal turned back to Ex: "Do you have any idea what that was about?"

"I think she wanted to say that she was too late to do anything about what happened here," Ex said quietly. "Whatever that means. And before you ask, she is always this cryptic."

Ramal tilted his head, a considering look on his face. "So she says whatever it was was inevitable but she could have helped had she been on time," he said. "That seems a bit odd."

Ex shrugged. "She is a witch. I can't even begin to understand what she means by that."

Ramal nodded, before he asked, "So what was it she wanted you to see?"

Ex looked around the area, apart from the burned ground it looked perfectly normal, but knowing what he had seen he couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine. "There is no magic here," he said. He took a deep breath. "There usually are some specks of it. Just small flickers of it floating around. But here there is nothing. It's as if all the magic that was around here was so completely removed that it can't even regenerate."

Ramal frowned. "I can say one thing for sure. This wasn't djinn fire. Our magic comes from within, it doesn't burn out the magic around it."

"So whatever did this used up the magic that was here," Ex finished the thought.

"Yes." Ramal nodded before he let go of Ex to walk around the circle of ash. "But it can't have only been that. There must have been a source, something that channelled it and that had magic itself."

He bent down all of a sudden, rooting in the soot and when he rose he held two things in his hand. One was a bow, inlaid with golden flames, the other was a necklace with a golden ring.

"This must have been where their packs lay," he said. "Tango gave the bow to Impulse, and I saw this hanging around Tango's neck when he left. It belonged to his father before him."

"So why did they survive when nothing else did?"

Ramal shrugged. "They were both enchanted to withstand fire, most likely. But if you say there is no more magic here the enchantments must have burned out."

Ex sighed and rubbed a hand over his beard. "This is just one mystery after the other," he said.

"Every mystery can be solved," Ramal said. "But I think this place will not help us anymore."

“Yes, let's go home. It will be evening by the time we get back. We can puzzle about this tomorrow."

Ramal nodded, and after securing the bow to his saddle and tucking away the ring and its chain, he stepped in and cupped Ex’s cheek. He leaned in and brushed his lips against Ex’s.

“We’ll find out what happened,” he said. “I’m sure of it.”

“I know,” Ex said, and before he could think about it, he had slipped his hand around Ramal to rest at the small of his back and leaned down to kiss him properly. Together they would figure this out. He could trust Ramal with that.

It had taken her two days to bring the pups down to the clearing, but the two-legs she had discovered there was still in the spot where she had hidden him. As far as she could tell he hadn’t moved, but he still seemed to be alive, and she was not entirely sure what else she could do for him. The pups had taken immediate interest in him, but they were quickly distracted by food, and when they realised later that he was unresponsive they had only taken to snuggling up to him to sleep when they had finally worked off their energy.

She worried a little. He had not had anything to eat or to drink, but she had no idea how to do anything about it. It made her anxious, and she did her best to compensate by hunting and making sure the clearing was protected, while they all waited for something to happen.

Ramal and Ex had been in the library for hours, but neither of them had gotten any further in solving the mysteries they had encountered so far. They had most likely spent too many hours here already, Ramal thought to himself, but they both felt that there was just one piece missing to finally understand what was going on, and neither of them was willing to take chances.

Ramal kept circling back to how Ex had described the magic around Tango. He felt like he should be reminded of something, but he couldn't remember what. He studied the bow and the ring sitting on the table between them when it came to him.

"Has Tango ever told you the story about how his parents met?" he asked into the silence.

Ex looked up, surprised. "It has been a while since I heard him tell it, why?"

"There is something in the words his father chose. But I cannot remember the exact words he used." Ramal frowned. "Would anyone here remember well enough?"

Ex considered it for a moment before he said, "Joe maybe. If not him Zloy and Pixl probably know it. I know I’ve heard them tell it before.” He got up. “Let’s go and ask Joe first.”

Ramal followed him out of the library and through the castle. There was a large pond at the centre of the main area, and they followed the path from the castle down to it and along the southern edge to a wooden house. It felt a little whimsical with the way one side of it was built to look like the bow of a ship, while the other had a number of small towers, but somehow it worked. It was surrounded by a well-maintained garden, a lawn stretching down towards the edge of the pond.

A zombie woman with fiery red hair with a crown of flowers opened when they knocked.

"Hey Cleo, is Joe around?" Ex asked.

"He left for the town a bit ago. Something about needing Zloy and Pixl to get things right." She shrugged. "He said to tell you to meet them at the inn when you came round."

Ex blinked. "Alright. Thank you."

"Not a problem." She turned to Ramal with a smirk. "It's nice meeting you. Though you are staring."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Ramal was surprised at her bluntness, but she shrugged.

"It's fine. Not every day you see a zombie who doesn't want to eat your brains. Now you better be on your way, I think he was sure you'd figure it out earlier."

Ex laughed. "Alright then. Thank you for the message." He turned away from her, and Ramal followed him as he walked away, throwing a last glance over his shoulder to see her standing in the door watching them with a knowing smile.

They found Joe at the inn in town just like Cleo had said. He wore a light blue shirt and had a book and a quill lying in front of him and he was with two men, one of them dressed all in dark blue with brown hair and a beard, the other looking a bit more eccentric with the large hat balanced on his head. The second man was another zombie Ramal guessed, with green skin and striking yellow eyes. The three of them were sitting at a table in the corner, an instrument sitting on the ground next to the zombie, and five drinks on the table.

"Howdy gentlemen, I see you talked to Miss Cleo," Joe said when they approached. "Take a seat, I think we have the information you seek."

They sat down, and Ex looked between the three men. "So you already know what we're here for, I guess."

"Well ya see I woke up this mornin' thinkin' to myself that there was a story Tango liked to tell, but I couldn't quite remember the details. But somethin' told me it was important so I went to seek out these gentlemen. Now I wasn't sure which part y'all need so I thought this might be the easiest way to get it."

"We're fairly sure we got it down," the man in blue said. "And Zloy brought his notes just in case."

Ex nodded and turned his head towards Ramal. "You're the one who thinks it's important. Ask away."

"In the story about the djinn queen and the scholar, how did he describe her powers when she came back to seek vengeance against the king?" Ramal asked, deciding that the direct way was the easiest. "I need the words as accurate as possible."

"She came with storm and fire. She came with an army if djinn, and all the power at their disposal," Pixl said without hesitation. "Then there's something about the flames being hottest around her."

"And her rage and thirst for revenge turned the sand into glass below her feet," Zloy added, his speech heavily accented. "I think that's all."

And that was it, wasn't it, Ramal realised. The answer to what was going on with Tango had been right there all this time.

"It's just a story though, isn't it?" Zloy said.

"It's not." Ramal shook his head. "It's how Tango's parents met. You can still find the place where it happened deep in the desert, though the palace lies in ruins now and the desert is reclaiming it. I've seen it." He paused before he continued. "You see there are djinn with powers over different elements. I myself have an affinity for wind." He held out his hand and summoned a tiny whirlwind in his palm, contained and gone again quickly. "But the royal family has always had more of an affinity for fire. Queen Malika herself is strong even for her line, and I have seen her control wind as well as fire, but that is extremely rare."

Ex frowned. "But Tango has never shown any signs of having magic," he said. "Xisuma and I would have seen, and you told me he didn't show signs of it in his childhood either."

"That's right. But from what you described to me he is having an excess of it right now."

"It would explain the heat and the fever," Ex agreed. "But where did the magic come from?"

"That I cannot say."

Ex looked at Joe. "Have you seen anything else that might help us?"

Joe shook his head. "Foresight is not an exact gift on the best of days. The future is often unclear despite my best efforts. All I've seen is a maelstrom. Things are shiftin' and changin' still. I just have a feelin’ that it’s gonna work out somehow.”

"I sure hope you're right about that," Ex said, taking a long sip of his drink.

"I'm sure all of us do," Joe said cheerfully, and Pixl and Zloy only raised their own drinks to that.

It was early in the evening when they returned to the castle together with Joe, but Ramal followed Ex back to the library and their table.

"I should write to the queen to tell her what little we found out," Ramal said. "And to my mother to ask her if she can help with any information regarding where Tango's magic has come from." At Ex's questioning look he added, "She is a scholar, she will like the challenge."

Ex nodded. "Is there anything we can do in the meantime, you think?"

"Nothing I know of." Ramal sighed. "I think our best guess is to wait. Maybe you could check tomorrow if his magic has gotten lesser. If our theory holds up it either should be going down or his mind adjusts and gets used to it. Control is a different question, but I need him to be awake to even try and help him with that."

"I'll get you something to write then, and then I'll go tell my brother about what we found out."

"I'll meet you at the cottage?" Ramal asked with a soft smile, and Ex nodded again.

"That might be best. I'll try to get Xisuma to go home as well. I'm sure he hasn't slept enough again."

Ex got up but before he could go off to get him what he needed, Ramal took his hand and drew him in and down for a quick kiss.

It had always been hard to stay focused when Ex was around, but usually their shared moments were enough to satisfy him until they saw each other again. But now… Ramal had never spent so much time with him, and from the moment Ex had hugged him when he had welcomed him, he had known that it would be different this time. He almost felt drunk on their closeness, or at least he assumed that this was what being drunk felt like. The urge to touch was almost constant, and he couldn't help himself sometimes, pulling Ex close to kiss him whenever he could. He knew there were things he should talk about with him, things he should explain, but he was afraid to breach the topic. Because as eager as Ex was, Ramal got the feeling that he was holding back something; that he was not as aware of what Ramal had known and understood for a while now. He didn't want to push him, he could wait for Ex. But he was selfish enough to take what he was willing to give in the meantime.

Ex smiled when Ramal released him.

"I'll be right back," he said, and Ramal watched as he disappeared down the aisle and around the end of the shelf. He'd get there, he was sure. He just needed some time.

Ex was starting to feel tired when he got back to his little cottage. Xisuma had been stubborn about getting the rest he clearly needed, but Ex had worn him down, and he had at least gone home. He hadn't accompanied him to his door, but he had waited long enough to see his brother disappear inside before he had turned and taken the northern path to drop in on Tango on the way.

Zed and Wels were watching over him tonight and they had told him that Ramal had already been by to tell them about the newest findings. Tango was showing no signs of waking and Ex could only hope that Ramal's theory was right.

There was light in the kitchen when he approached, and when he opened the door the enticing scent of food greeted him. Ex closed the door softly behind him and stood there for a moment, watching Ramal, who had his back to him.

It felt so domestic to come home to someone making dinner, and Ex wasn't quite sure what to make of it. It didn't help his confused feelings that Ramal looked at home here, not like a guest, but as if this was where he belonged. His posture was relaxed, no sign of his usual poise and perfect manners visible. Ex could almost imagine this to be real, it almost felt like this was how things were supposed to be. And for once he stopped his thoughts before he could list all the reasons for why this couldn't be. Instead he walked across the room just loud enough for Ramal to hear his steps, and wrapped his arms around him from behind. He had to stoop a little to rest his head against Ramal's shoulder, but that was the least of his complaints right now.

Ramal's hand came up to awkwardly pat his head before he turned around to smile at Ex.

He leaned in for a quick kiss before he said, "Dinner will be ready in a minute. You should at least get your boots off before then."

Ex smiled, helplessly.

"I didn't know you could cook," he said.

"It's an important skill," Ramal said, raising an eyebrow. "And I thought you'd want something to eat when you got back."

Ex nodded. "I'll be with you in a minute then," he said.

He leaned in for another quick kiss before he stepped away and went to get his boots off and at least dress down so he was only wearing his shirt and his pants. If the food tasted as good as it smelled he could not wait to try it.

It was a calm day in the forest. She had hunted only the day before and now she was lying under a bush in the clearing watching as the pups played. They had grown and had gotten less clumsy on their paws, and they were climbing all over the easily reachable parts of the remains of the house, jumping onto each other from their vantage points and chasing each other through the grass.

She had ventured into the abandoned village a while ago and had found a blanket that she had dragged to the clearing and drawn over the unconscious two-legs. He had still not moved, but something told her that it would not stay that way forever. The pups made sure to keep their games away from where he was lying, and she barely had to pay attention to them. She had raised enough pups in her life to realise that this litter was different from others. They seemed even more aware of the two-legs than she was, and as far as she could tell they stayed close to him whenever she was gone. She watched as one of them climbed a bit higher than usual, balancing precariously along the crumbling wall, until they had reached a point right above where two of the others were tugging playfully on the two ends of a stick. It had nothing to do with the way their kind usually hunted, but she left them to their games for the most part.

The pup on the wall was still trying to figure out how to jump down from their vantage point when all nine pups seemed to freeze at once.

She raised her head in alarm, trying to hear or smell anything that might have alarmed them, when their heads turned as one towards the wall where the two-legs lay.

The one on the wall scampered back down and joined their siblings as they moved closer to him, eager but still a little cautious. They sat down close to him, and she slowly got up to investigate. She had no idea what was going on, but she wanted to be close in case she had to protect them.

He started moving and groaning a little when she had gotten about half of the way there, and even as she got closer one of the pups ventured forth and sniffed at him, slowly followed by the rest.

By the time she had reached them, he had opened his eyes, squinting against the light and making a confused sound, before he slowly started to move more deliberately, trying to push himself up, but failing.

He let himself fall back onto his back, with a groan, eyes falling shut again. For a moment she thought he was unconscious again, but then he opened his eyes again and when she moved to his side, gently pushing two of the pups away, he managed to lift himself up enough for her to help him sit up.

"Where am I?" he said, the sounds somehow forming meaning in her mind.

But he seemed to realise that she could not answer, because he shook his head and made himself move until he leaned against the wall.

He looked around the clearing, and she could see a flicker of pain on his face, before his eyes landed on her. She could feel something brush against her mind, before he smiled tiredly, and his eyes fell closed again.

She was close enough to catch him before he fell, and she pulled him away from the wall until he lay on his side, unconscious again.

The pups looked at her confused and worried, and she huffed, before she pushed them close to him. She looked around trying to decide what to do. He would need water and something to eat. She would have to go to the village again.


	12. The Stars Are All Alight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you are interested you can find me on tumblr as abschaumno1.
> 
> I've also posted some maps I drew over there. You can find them [here](https://abschaumno1.tumblr.com/post/615942573100515328/im-not-much-of-an-artist-and-the-scale-of-these). And anything I post on there about this verse can be found [here.](https://abschaumno1.tumblr.com/tagged/hermitcraft-fantasy-au)

It was the middle of the night when Ramal and Ex were woken by a loud knock on the door of the cottage. It was Ramal who went to open, and he was surprised to find Cleo outside, her flower crown sitting a bit lopsided on her dishevelled red hair.

"Joe sent me," she said. "He says you should come to Tango's place because something is going to happen."

Ramal nodded. "We'll be down in a minute," he said.

When he came back up Ex blinked at him, still trying to wake up.

"Joe says something is about to happen with Tango," Ramal said, already grabbing a shirt and pulling it over his head.

Ex was immediately awake and practically jumped out of the bed. "You go there, I'll go get Xisuma," he said, catching the clothes Ramal threw at him. "You think he's waking up?"

"It's possible. If Joe thinks we should be there I trust him. I've heard and seen enough to trust him on that."

"I'll see you there."

And with that Ex already teleported away, while Ramal went back down the stairs.

He closed the door behind him.

"Ex is getting Xisuma," he told Cleo, who looked relieved that she didn't have to go herself.

"Go ahead," she said. "Joe sounded urgent and you're faster without me I heard."

Ramal only nodded before he called on his magic and dissolved into wind.

Joe was waiting outside for him, looking worried.

"It's good you came," he said. "It's gotten too warm inside, I'm not sure what's going on."

"Just warmer?" Ramal asked.

"He's been moving and muttering more as well. You think he's waking up?"

"It's possible." Ramal looked up at Tango's bedroom window. "But we won't know for sure until it happens. I'll go in. I'll probably find it easier to withstand the heat."

Joe nodded, and Ramal approached the house, trying not to think about any of the fears that were running through his head. He needed to think clearly now.

The heat hit him before he had even reached the door. It reminded him of the lower reaches of the Nether, not quite as hot as it was close to the lava lakes, but close to it.

Ramal was glad that he was here, because he doubted that any of the Hermits would be able to withstand this much heat. But to him it was second nature, the environment of his home in slightly milder form.

Tango was tossing in his bed when he pushed open the door. The heat was worst here, even if the walls were still coated in ice. He didn't know much about Stress's magic, but he was impressed that it held up so well.

Ramal sat down by the bed, taking one of the chairs and took Tango's hand.

He didn't think he would be able to do much, but he started speaking lowly, recalling old memories and almost forgotten exercises to hone his focus.

He wasn't sure how long he had spoken when Tango squeezed his hand and stilled. Ramal leaned forward and wrapped his other hand around Tango's as well while he kept talking.

And then finally, Tango opened his eyes and groaned.

"Ramal, is that you?" he asked, voice hoarse and almost reduced to a whisper.

"Yes, it's me."

"How?"

"Your friends sent a message to your mother and she sent me here to help however I can."

"Oh. She...she must be worried." Tango was silent for a moment before he said, "Ramal, Impulse...he...he's gone."

"I know." Ramal moved from the chair to sit on the edge of the bed. "I'm so sorry."

"What...what's happening with me?"

"We're not sure how, but it seems you have magic after all," Ramal said. "It needed an outlet while your mind adjusted to it."

"I...but…"

"I know. We really don't know how."

Tango sighed, and Ramal reached out to touch a hand to his cheek.

"You should rest now. We will talk tomorrow and I'll try to help you with controlling it."

"I'll yeah...can you stay?"

"I will. I'll just go down and tell the others that you have woken. They are worried."

"Yes."

Ramal released his hand and got up. "I'll be right back," he promised before he left the room to go outside.

A small crowd had gathered outside where he left Joe, Ex was there, fidgeting where he stood next to Xisuma, and the others had joined them. The only ones missing were Stress and False, but two men Ramal hadn't met were there as well, both looking tired as if they had just arrived from a long journey. One of them was an imposing figure, tall and green, with some sort of metal plating in his face and on his bare chest, the other was smaller, with brown hair and a short beard.

"He's awake," Ramal said when he joined the group. "I told him to rest, and he asked me to stay with him."

Xisuma nodded. "Is he okay?"

"I think so. He'll probably need a few days before he's up and walking again, but I think all things considered he is okay."

Xisuma let out a relieved sigh. He looked like Ramal's words had taken a weight off his shoulders.

"That is the best news I have heard in weeks," he said.

There was a moment of silence before Ramal said, "I'll better go back inside. I don't want to leave him alone too long."

"You do that," Xisuma said. "I'm sure we'll all be glad to get back to our beds."

"You need anything?" Ex asked.

Ramal shook his head. "I should be fine."

"I'll be by in the morning with breakfast then."

"Thank you." Ramal smiled at him, before he looked around. "Good night," he said, and turned around to go back inside. He had a feeling it would still be a long one for him.

Tango guessed it was late morning when he woke again, but he didn't feel particularly rested. Ramal was still sitting by the bed, dozing now, and there was a basket with some food standing on top of the chest closest to the bed.

Tango felt a pang of guilt at the sight. He dimly remembered waking up in the night and asking him to stay, not even thinking about whether Ramal would have to sleep or not. He swallowed and groaned when he tried to sit up; apparently the bone deep exhaustion he felt also meant he was barely able to move.

Ramal opened his eyes at the sound. He looked relieved when he saw Tango, as if he had still been worried that he wouldn’t wake again.

“You’re awake,” he said.

“Yeah…”

Ramal got up and helped him sit up against the headboard, something that shouldn’t have felt as tiring as it did.

“You should eat and drink,” Ramal said. “You need it.”

And Tango hadn’t even been aware of how hungry he was, but as soon as Ramal mentioned food, his stomach growled loudly. Ramal only smiled and pulled the basket closer. Someone had prepared slices of bread with honey, and Tango practically devoured everything that was left.

“How long have I been out?” he asked once he wasn’t so busy eating.

“About three weeks,” Ramal said. “But I’ve only been here for the past few days.”

“I…thank you for being here.” Tango looked down at his lap and swallowed. “Will you be able to stay?”

Ramal reached out and gently squeezed his shoulder. “Your mother told me to stay as long as I am needed. And I am sure she would agree that that is still the case.”

"Does she...does she know?"

"About Impulse? Yes. Though we do not know what exactly happened with him yet."

"I...all I know is that he's gone." Tango's voice broke at the words, and he had to swallow down the lump in his throat. He remembered crying in Zed's arms, but he realised that his tears were not exhausted yet.

He buried his head in his hands, and just let them come, because Impulse was gone and he wouldn't get him back.

Ramal came to sit by him, pulling him into his arms, and Tango could only hold on as the tears fell.

Ex was making dinner when Ramal returned to the cottage that evening. The first thing Ramal did when he entered was come over and wrap his arms around him from behind, leaning his head against Ex's shoulder. It reminded Ex of his own entrance just a few days earlier and yet feeling like a life time ago. He turned around and wrapped his arms around Ramal, pulling him close up against him. Ramal sighed and buried his head against his shoulder. He seemed tired and weary, and Ex gently ran a hand up and down his back.

Ramal seeking comfort with him was new, but Ex wasn't going to question it. Not when Ramal needed him.

It took a few moments but then Ramal seemed to relax a little against him, and Ex gently kissed his temple.

"How is he doing?" He asked softly.

"He's exhausted and heartbroken, and I know the first will get better with some rest, but I have no idea how to help him with the latter."

Ex wrapped his arm more firmly around Ramal's shoulders.

"You don't have to. And you're not alone in figuring it out. We're all here to help. Tango is our family, we're not leaving him alone with his grief."

"I know." Ramal sighed, and leaned a bit more into Ex. "I'm still getting used to it," he admitted. "It's...it was just me who was there for him as his friend for so long. I'm glad he has you and the others now."

"I'm glad as well."

He pressed another gentle kiss to Ramal's temple, before he said, "Come on, let's eat and then we can go to bed. You need the sleep just as much as Tango does."

Ramal nodded, but he made no move to step away until Ex gently pushed him.

He gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Sit down, I'll be right over."

Ramal nodded again, and walked the few steps to the table to sit down, while Ex took the plates with their food. They didn't talk over dinner, and when they were both done Ex only pushed their plates to the side to be dealt with the next day. He gently nudged Ramal towards the bedroom, following right behind him, and after closing the door behind them, he helped him out of his clothes, his touch gentle. He changed his own clothes before he joined Ramal under the covers and pulled him close, letting him relax against him, his head tucked underneath Ex's chin.

Ramal wrapped an arm around him and before Ex knew it they were both asleep.

Ramal was already awake when Ex got up the next morning. Ex found him downstairs, sitting at the table, reading a thick stack of paper.

He looked up when Ex came down and smiled. He looked better than the evening before, more rested, and Ex was glad to see it.

"Good morning," Ex said, only barely stopping himself from following it up with a kiss.

"Good morning. Your brother came by earlier. He brought some honey and dropped this off. My mother replied to my message."

"She works fast," Ex said, sitting down and pouring himself some tea.

Ramal shrugged. "Once she starts researching something she won't rest until she has found what she can."

"Does she have any insight on what might have caused Tango to develop magic?"

Ramal looked down at the letter in his hands and shook his head with a sigh.

"Nothing conclusive. She's found some stories of djinn who fully developed their magic pretty late in their lives, but nothing that quite fits his situation. She's been puzzling about his soulbond with Impulse as well ever since the queen told her about it."

"I heard that what they had was very rare."

"It wasn't just rare. It is unheard of. Nothing in our archives suggests that it has ever happened before. Only beings with a lot of magic of their own can form soulbonds. Djinn can, we have evidence of dragons and those affected by their magic forming soulbonds. But what Tango and Impulse had should not have been possible to our knowledge."

"Vexchosen, too," Ex said. He shrugged at Ramal's surprised look. "Cub and Scar told me."

"What they all have in common is that they have a lot of inherent magic. To our knowledge neither Tango nor Impulse had that."

"Which leaves us with yet another mystery."

Ramal looked like he wanted to say something else, but then he just nodded. He put down the letter. "My mother also wrote about ways to help Tango learn to control his magic, so we have that at least."

"Good luck with that," Ex said, unable to hold back a wry smile. Learning control took patience even for those born with it, and Tango had never been known to be the most patient among the Hermits, always needing something to keep him occupied.

Judging by Ramal's own expression he had been like that as a child as well.

"He'll have to learn," Ramal said with a sigh. "Even if he won't like it." He took a sip of his own tea. "Anyways, your brother asked that we come to the castle after lunch. He wants to know how we're going to proceed, and I think he wants everyone to know what we have found out so far."

Ex nodded. "It's about time everyone knows. And with Doc and Ren back home it's a good opportunity."

"We have time still. Xisuma told me to rest. Zed is with him now and he said Scar is going to stay with him during the meeting."

Ex smiled. "That sounds like Xisuma. Always looking out for everyone but himself."

"It must run in the family," Ramal said, his expression fond.

"I guess it does." Ex shrugged. He tried not to read too much into the look on Ramal's face. There was no reason to see it as anything but the fondness of a friend.

He woke up, lying in the grass, the sun shining in his face. A pup was curled up against his chest, her head rising a little when she realised he was awake. He could feel the world around him, but only muted, as if through a thick fog, but the pups somehow felt clear. There were nine of them he realised, five females and four males, all of their minds awake and alert.

He sat up cautiously, and the pup who had curled up to him followed, watching as he managed to push himself to sit against the wall. There was a bucket standing close by, looking a little worse for the wear, but when he pulled it closer the water inside looked fresh, and the pup quickly nudged a slightly cracked bowl closer to him. He filled the bowl in the bucket and sipped slowly as he took in his surroundings.

He was in a clearing that looked oddly familiar. It was in the bend of some of the larger trees, the way their branches stretched out over the grass at the edges. He turned his head to the left and just as he expected found the overgrown remains of a small garden, the herbs and other useful plants turned into a wild, unkempt mess without anyone to care for them.

He swallowed. He hadn’t seen this place in years, not since he had been carried away from here on the back of a wolf, the remains of the house he was leaning against now still smouldering from the fire.

The pup by his side made a questioning sound, and moved closer until she had climbed into his lap, her front paws braced against his chest as she nosed at his jaw.

He smiled and ran a hand down her back. “It’s okay,” he said. “Just old memories.”

He could still feel her worry, echoed by her siblings, but they also seemed calmer at his reassurance.

He remembered a larger she-wolf from the last time he had been conscious, but he couldn't spot her anywhere in the clearing right now. She had seemed familiar, but he couldn't tell why. He hoped she was coming back, even if he doubted that she had any more answers than he did.

He had no idea how he had landed at his childhood home, but here he was, in the very place he had last seen when his mother had died, leaning against the burned out remains of the house he had spent some of his happiest years in.

He sighed again, absentmindedly scratching the pup behind her ears. He hoped Tango was okay wherever he was. He had thought he could feel him right after he woke for the first time, a burning sensation at the edge of his mind, but it was gone now, and after the way he had passed out the last time he didn't think it was a good idea to use his magic too much right now.

The pup licked at his jaw, and he looked down at her with a small smile. Her siblings had moved closer as well, and before he knew it they were piled up all around him, trying to get their sister to give up her place in his lap. But she didn't move an inch from her spot.

"I wonder if any of you have names," he wondered out loud, and they stilled, looking at him with tilted heads. "I guess I'll have to call you something, won't I?"

He could feel their curiosity at his words, and then the mind of the one in his lap brushed against his own.

It was an interesting sensation. As if they were connected somehow and he could feel her consider the question before one word formed in her mind.

"So you want to be called Tango," he said with a chuckle. "I'm sure he will love that."

She yapped, almost sounding amused, and feeling proud of herself.

One of her sisters was next, picking the name Kaya, and then one by one the others followed. There were Skizz and Reema, Lumo, Phantom, Flip, Chacha and finally Aura.

Some of them were quick to pick a name, but some took their time, but they all seemed happy and he had to smile when they were done, all of them lying down around him.

The adult she-wolf found them like that when she returned what must have been hours later, dragging a deer behind her. When she saw he had woken she sat down, letting her prey fall into the grass at her feet, and looked at him, her head cocked to the side.

He reached out with his mind, still tentative at using his magic again, but it seemed fine, and when he felt her mind he realised that he knew her.

"You were there when my mother died," he said, surprised. "You were younger, but I know you."

She let out a bark that he realised was meant to be an affirmative. She shook herself, barking at the pups who scrambled over to get their shares of the food, while she scampered off past him and disappeared in the little garden. She emerged a moment later, dragging a branch of a berry bush behind her and dropping it off in front of him, levelling him with a stare until he got the message and picked it up.

"I'll eat," he said. "Don't worry."

She huffed and then she joined the pups, making sure they shared the food between them.

He shook his head with a smile and started picking the berries off the branch. It wasn't much but it would help for now.

Xisuma found his brother out on top of the main gate, leaning against the stone and staring out towards Hermitville. He had disappeared right after the meeting, and Xisuma had given him some time before he followed. He had had to talk to Ren and Doc first anyways, and he knew Ex would need some time to brood before he would be willing to talk to Xisuma in the first place.

"I had a feeling I would find you out here, brother," he said as he approached. "You always come out here to brood."

Ex scoffed, but he didn't say anything and Xisuma came to stand beside him.

"What's the matter? Come on who can you tell if not your big brother?"

There was another scoff before Ex said, "You're not that much older. Just by a minute."

Xisuma reached out and ruffled his hair with a chuckle.

“See, that one always gets ya talking,” he said.

Ex sighed, and when Xisuma wrapped his arm around his brother’s shoulders and pulled him close he came easily, leaning into the embrace.

“Really though, what’s the matter with you? You’ve been pensive. And don’t tell me this is about Tango.”

Ex didn’t say anything for a moment, but Xisuma could wait. His brother had never been one to talk about his feelings as openly as Xisuma was. It was usually just best to wait until he was ready to talk.

“I’ve just…been thinking,” Ex said finally. “About things.”

“I assume Ramal is things.”

It wasn’t a question. Xisuma had seen the way Ex had stayed close to Ramal ever since he had arrived; had seen the way they looked at each other when they were sure the other didn’t see. He didn’t know how long they had known each other, or how close they actually were, but to him it had been obvious that they had more of a connection than they were willing to openly admit.

“He might be,” Ex admitted quietly.

“So how long has that been going on?” He raised an eyebrow at Ex’s surprised look. “What? You didn’t think I could put two and two together?”

“No just… didn’t…think.”

Xisuma gently squeezed his shoulder, before he released him.

“Come on. Let’s go to my place and talk there. I think this calls for a cup of tea, don’t you?”

He didn’t wait for a reply, but Ex was right behind him when he stepped through the door into the small watch tower by the gate. They walked the way to Xisuma’s house in comfortable silence, and once they were there Xisuma just gestured Ex to sit down while he brewed the tea and got a small jar of honey out. Ex didn’t like to admit it, but he had always had a sweet tooth, and while he would drink his tea unsweetened without complaint, he preferred it with a bit of honey in it.

Soon enough they were both sitting down, mugs of steaming tea in front of them. Ex wrapped his hands around his mug, and took a deep breath. He smiled at the hint of honey, and took a sip.

“I met Ramal a few years ago,” Ex said after a moment. “The djinn caught me when I tried to sneak into their realm, and Queen Malika sent Ramal to interrogate me. He…he let me go once he realised that I knew Tango. It wasn’t even just that I knew him, I think he was more relieved to hear about him and to hear that he was okay than anything.

We met again and again. Sometimes because I was caught trying to sneak in again, sometimes because we just ran into each other in the Overworld. In the beginning we didn’t talk much. He asked how Tango was doing, I told him what I could. But we started talking about other things as well.

“And then… at some point it grew into more. I…I never neglected my duty towards our family, but if we could make it happen we would meet up as often as we could.”

Ex paused and bit his lip. “He was the one who gave me the tip about Impulse actually. He said that he had heard rumours about him, and they weren’t planning on doing anything as long as he didn’t cause a disturbance. But Ramal thought that maybe it would be better for everyone involved if we took him in.”

“And you don’t have to feel guilty about anything that happened after,” Xisuma said, reaching out to squeeze his brother’s hand. “You couldn’t have known that anything would happen to them.”

“I know,” Ex said with a sigh. “And I don’t. It’s…it’s just putting things into perspective somehow.”

He was silent again, and Xisuma watched him for a moment.

“You’re in love with him,” he finally said, and he was surprised when his brother didn’t even try to deny it.

“I…it was easy to ignore it when we only saw each other every few months or so. But he’s here now, and I see him every day, but… I can’t. I realise that I could lose him any day, but I just can’t bring myself to tell him. He has his duty just like I do, and I…I wouldn’t want him to feel like he has to choose.”

Ex ran a hand over his face. Xisuma studied his features for a moment. They were so similar to his own that anyone who didn’t know them could easily mistake them for one another. Ex kept his beard shorter and a bit tidier than Xisuma, who tended to neglect his a little in favour of working; he kept his hair in a tidy bun where Xisuma just put it into a ponytail. But the most striking differences were in the details of their faces. They both had purple eyes, but where Xisuma’s were light, almost verging on lavender, Ex’s were so dark that they almost appeared black in the wrong light. Ex’s nose was ever so slightly different from his own. And of course the scars. Xisuma had a few of his own, small scars from fights he had gotten into and hadn’t gotten out of unscathed. But between the two of them it was Ex who had the more visible ones. There was one cutting right through his eyebrow, a close call for his eye, Xisuma remembered; a few smaller but noticeable ones on his cheeks, some almost disappearing in his beard these days. Xisuma was the only one who knew the stories behind all of them, even the ones he hadn’t been there to witness.

And right now he could see in his brother’s face how torn he was. It was obvious to Xisuma that Ex wanted to be with Ramal, even though he kept telling himself that he couldn’t. It broke his heart a little, but really the only ones who could find a solution here were Ex and Ramal themselves.

Xisuma sighed, and then he said, “I think you should let Ramal make that decision himself. I don’t think either of you has to choose, but even if that was the case, it would be unfair to both yourself and Ramal to make that decision for him without talking to him first.”

“I know.” Ex looked up from his mug of tea, looking vulnerable, and smaller than usual. “But I’m afraid of what his decision might be. I… now that I know what it would be like to actually be with him, I don’t want to risk losing him.”

“Brother, I love you, and I respect your observation and information gathering skills, but sometimes you can be really blind, you know?” Xisuma shook his head with a slightly exasperated smile. “Ramal and you have been practically inseparable since he arrived. He is staying with you at your cottage that you barely use yourself normally. And he hasn’t shown any sign of not wanting to be there. On the contrary, he seems to feel at home. If there is a decision he has to make I am fairly sure he has made it already. He is just waiting for you to figure it out.”

Ex swallowed. “Are you…are you sure?”

“As sure as I can be from watching the two of you. But the only way to be truly sure is to talk to Ramal.”

“I… think I’ll do that.”

Xisuma smiled and squeezed his brother’s hand again. “Do that. I’m sure things will look better after that.”

Ex only nodded.


	13. Then World Behind and Home Ahead

It took Tango a few days before he felt strong enough to get up for more than a trip to the bathroom, and it was the one good thing in all of this.

The others had kept him company, someone was always around, even at night, and he knew it was because they worried, but he also hoped that he could have his nights to himself again at least now. They meant well, but if Tango was honest with himself all he wanted to do was lie in bed and grieve. He missed Impulse like a limb that had been ripped off, the pain always present and making it hard to deal with anyone, even the family who so clearly just wanted to help him in any way they could.

The magic he had never known he had did not help the situation either. It was like an itch that demanded to be scratched, even if Ex told him that it had depleted itself to something much more normal than what it had been when they had brought him home.

Tango understood from what everyone was saying that Ex and Ramal were still trying to figure out what exactly had happened, but he could tell them nothing that would help. His memory of that night was fuzzy at best, and if he had been awake for the event itself he had no memory of it.

The downside of having recovered enough to get out of bed again was that Ramal insisted he start to learn how to control his magic. It was tedious work that demanded focus and sitting still, a combination Tango had never done well with. But Ramal was relentless and patient as a saint, and even when Tango got frustrated he did not give in.

Tango yearned to work off his frustration, but he was not quite in the right state for that yet, which only furthered his frustration with himself.

When it got worst he remembered Impulse's smile, and the look in his eyes when he told Tango that he believed he would have found his way back after his father's death even if Xisuma hadn't found him. It hurt, but it also gave him strength. Impulse would have wanted him learn, and he would have wanted him to go on. He didn't know how he would do that yet, but he could try. If only because Impulse would have believed in him.

It had been a week since his talk with Xisuma, but Ex still hadn't talked to Ramal. He knew he should. He knew he was only putting off the inevitable, but he couldn't make himself do it. Ramal had to focus on Tango right now, had to help his friend to learn how to deal with his magic. Ex didn't want to distract him from that, or at least that was what he kept telling himself.

The truth he didn't like to admit to himself was more complex than that. It had been hidden between the lines when he had talked to Xisuma, and it had been left unsaid in the advice his brother had given him. They both knew that love was a complicated thing for Ex, something he had had to learn in more than one way. And this...this was something he had no experience with, something he had even less expected than the love he had found with this family they had found themselves. It was scary in more than one way. Scary because it somehow felt bigger and even more all-encompassing than his love for his family did, and scary because he had no idea what he would do if it wasn’t reciprocated. He knew he loved intensely and he knew he came with years of baggage he had had to unlearn and the full truth of which even Xisuma only barely knew. It was hard to believe that someone would be willing to accept him so fully with everything he was and had been.

And yet Xisuma had seen and had watched and he had told Ex to trust Ramal. Not with those exact words maybe, but it had been the message behind what he had said. And even when he didn't trust himself, Ex knew he could always trust Xisuma's judgement.

It was a conundrum he had no idea how to solve, and so he kept avoiding it for as long as he could. It was fine he told himself, they were close right now, living in each other's pockets for the time being, but once Ramal had to go back home and they would go back to seeing each other once every couple months it would all go back to normal. He wouldn't see Ramal in the mornings anymore, hair dishevelled and a sleepy smile on his face the moment he saw Ex. He wouldn't reach out anymore to pull a pliant, barely awake Ramal close until he melted against his body. He wouldn't catch his lips in a sweet good morning kiss anymore. No more meals prepared together and shared at the same table with their legs entwined, and no more quiet moments of pulling each other close and revelling in kisses and forgetting the world around them.

No, he would ignore the voice somewhere at the back of his mind that told him that he was being too stubborn. It sounded suspiciously like Xisuma.

What he did not account for was Ramal. Ramal who pulled him close in bed one evening and said, "There's something on your mind. Is everything okay?"

And there were so many things Ex could say to that. For a moment he even considered denying it. But he was tired of it he realised. He yearned to know where they stood, yearned for the possibility of Ramal knowing and of the comfort he could seek with him if he needed it. Comfort that was unspoken and already there right now, but never laid out in terms that made it clear how far it really went.

And so Ex took the plunge.

"I've been thinking about us," he admitted.

He almost expected Ramal to still, or to pull back even, but he just kept his arms around him and waited for Ex to continue.

It was difficult to figure out where to start. It felt like there was so much to say, so much to explain. So he went with the first thing that came to mind.

"I realised that I'm in love with you," he said.

This time Ramal did push away but it was only so Ex could see the wide, happy smile on his face before he leaned in and kissed him, slow and sweet and with a sureness Ex hadn't even realised hadn't been there before. And now finally he could let himself lean into it in the way he had always wanted, without hesitation or doubt or any of the other things that had held him back before. He made a noise, something between a happy sigh and a laugh, and he could feel the smile that tugged at Ramal's lips in reply. Ramal pulled him closer, his hand slipping underneath Ex's shirt, where it rested against the small of his back, fingers splayed out over his skin. It was everything Ex hadn't even imagined he needed, and it was all his, no barriers left between them.

Ramal was still smiling when they ended the kiss, and he leaned their foreheads together.

“I love you, too,” he said.

It seemed like such a simple thing to say, but Ex could feel his heart soar, and his face break into a smile. He hadn’t been prepared for the sheer amount of happiness he felt right now. The fact that all of his fears had been for nothing; that his feelings were returned.

He leaned in to press their lips together again, revelling in the knowledge that he could.

"I've known for a while," Ramal admitted when Ex had moved away again. "Actually there's something we should talk about."

"Yeah?" And maybe Ex should feel nervous about the way he said it, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Not right now. Not when Ramal's eyes were still so full of love and happiness.

Ramal traced a hand up his side and down his arm until he could lace their fingers together.

"I wanted to talk to you about this earlier, but I didn't know how without feeling like I was pressuring you into something you didn't want." Ramal hesitated and Ex gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"I think I'm not just in love with you," Ramal said finally. "In fact I am pretty sure that I have found my soulmate in you."

Ex had to swallow. "You do?" He asked softly.

"Yes."

"How...how can you tell?"

Ramal paused, thinking on it for a moment.

"It's hard to describe. I've been in love before. But it has never felt like this. I've never been so sure of it, and I've never felt like I've known someone like I know you. Not in the details of your life, I realise that there is a lot I still have to learn about you, but your expressions, the way you think, how you react. I've known Tango for most of my life, and I know these things about him, too. But I don't know him the way I do you. I don't know this about you because time taught me, I think I've always just known."

Ex nodded slowly. He spent a lot of his life watching people, trying to figure them out. But now that he thought about it, he had never had to do that with Ramal. He had known him even before they had started talking and actually gotten to know each other. It had never struck him as odd, even though maybe it should have.

Ramal watched him, patiently waiting for him to think it through. It startled him a little when he realised that he had seen that expression on his face before. He had seen it on Ramal's face since he had arrived, often there when he thought Ex wasn't looking.

Ramal had been waiting for him to catch up all this time. At least since he had arrived at the Hermitage, possibly even longer than that. But Ex had been too stubborn to deal with his own feelings and to see what had been in front of him the whole time.

He released Ramal's hand to cup his cheek.

"Ramal," he said, almost whispering, "how long have you waited for me to figure myself out?"

Ramal smiled, albeit a bit lopsided. "Long," he said. "But every moment was worth it."

"Oh Ramal." Ex sighed, before he leaned in and kissed him again, his hand gently curling around the back of his neck, his fingers sliding into his hair.

He tried to convey his regret with his kiss, tried to tell Ramal all the ways in which he was sorry because he was blind to what was right in front of him and he was a stubborn fool, who had trouble admitting his own feelings to himself.

When they came up for air, Ramal gave him another soft smile.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," he said. "I don't know why, and you don't have to tell me, but I know you seem to struggle with love. I don't think you even realise it, but it shines through in your interactions with your family. I knew it would take you some time to realise it and even longer for you to tell me."

Ex had no idea what to say to that. All he knew was that he did not deserve Ramal or his patience.

But he had him. And he knew that he could not get rid of him that easily even if he wanted to. And so the only reply he could give was to pull Ramal close and say, "I love you."

As it turned out Impulse had not quite recovered as much as he had thought the first day of waking up. It had been a good day, sure but as it turned out it was just that. The next day had been worse again, and he had barely found the energy to even sit up. It had continued like that, some days were good, some were not. The only constant had been the pups.

They liked to stay close to him, and even on the bad days his bond with them seemed to only grow stronger. And if anything it distracted him from the thoughts swirling around his mind. He worried about Tango. He had no idea what exactly had happened to them and while he was sure that he had felt him when he woke up, a bright flame at the edge of his consciousness, he lost any awareness of him, and all he could hope for was that he was somewhere out there.

He had a lot of time to think about what to do, and it seemed that his best choice was probably to set out when he was feeling better and to go west towards the mountains; get back to Snefjella and find the Hermits. He considered briefly to go south towards the djinn, but he remembered the maps well enough to realise that the Hermits were the closer option. He had to put his hope into the people Tango considered family. And provided Tango had been left at their last campsite it would most likely have been them who came to his aid.

But he needed to recover enough to make that journey first, regain his strength and figure out how to get there.

His magic, dulled and depleted as it had seemed in the beginning returned gradually. Not in the way it had the last time, trickling from behind a mental wall so impenetrable he had barely been aware of its existence, but more naturally it seemed; much like his physical strength. The world slowly moved back into focus, his awareness of the forest around him sharpening gradually and starting to be more present again. He doubted it would go back to the way it had been before, when he had started to feel like even the tiniest flicker of life around him was a bright light. He didn't know how but this felt more normal than it had been before, like something he could learn to control and had to focus on to actually see.

All of it except for the pups. The pups were connected to him, his awareness of them always quietly at the back of his mind. They felt like an extension of himself in a way, and there was no need to work on his focus on them, it came naturally to him.

And in the absence of Tango and the steady flame of his life force, he learned to focus his mind on them when things got overwhelming.

Tango was sitting in the grass outside his house when Doc found him. He had been up and about for two weeks now, and Ramal had finally had enough of his nervous energy to agree to spar with him. It hadn't been a long sparring session, but Tango felt calmer than he had since waking up and sitting outside and thinking had seemed like a good idea.

He wished Impulse was there to see it, to see the grass stretching out down towards the pond, the houses nestled in their own little areas along the paths, each betraying who had built it to live in it. He could hear the distant sounds of Zed's farm animals somewhere behind him, the small herds grazing further up the hill. It was a nice day, all things considered, but it made Tango a little melancholy for what he couldn't have right now.

He was startled out of his thoughts when Doc sat down next to him, offering him a smile.

They sat in silence for a moment before Doc asked softly, "How are you doing?"

Tango shrugged.

"Taking it day by day," he said. "It's all I can do really."

"Yes. I know." Doc sighed.

"How do you manage it?" Tango asked quietly.

Doc sighed again, and his head turned towards the cluster of four houses a bit further down the path from Tango's house.

They had stood empty since shortly after Doc had returned alone and still reeling from whatever he had seen in that jungle when he had lost the three people he had grown closest to. The path went right through the small courtyard that had formed in the centre between the houses, originally four separate buildings that had through expansion gotten so connected that they might be considered one. The yard had always been full of life, a place for the four Hermits to sit together and relax, for long evenings sitting outside and talking about nothing much, to sit around the small fire pit and eat grilled meat.

Doc had vacated his part of the house not long after his return. There had been a few concerned looks when he had moved into Keralis's abandoned home on the other side of the area, closer to Xisuma's house, but those had stopped the moment Xisuma had gone over to visit Doc the first time, clearly showing that however sensitive the topic of Keralis might still be in some regards, this was not one of them.

The courtyard felt cold and empty ever since, haunted almost and most of them crossed through as fast as they could or avoided it altogether.

"I still don't know," Doc said finally. "I still miss them every day, and I still hope that they will return one day, but I'm doing much the same as you are doing. I take it one day at a time."

"It doesn't get easier, does it?" Tango said.

"No." Doc shook his head. "But you get used to it."

"I hope we will find them again," Tango said honestly.

Doc looked over at him with a small, sad smile.

"So do I."

Ramal had stopped at the crossing where the path up towards the cottage branched off the main path when he had seen Doc approach Tango. He had watched as Doc had sat down, and while he was too far to see much, he was fairly sure that they were talking. He smiled, and he was about to turn onto the other path to go up the hill when he heard footsteps and looked up to see Xisuma coming towards him.

“Ah, just the man I was looking for,” Xisuma said, smiling.

Ramal gave him a surprised look. “Did anything happen?”

“Oh no, everything is fine. I just wanted to talk to you for a second.” Xisuma had reached him now and stood next to him. “I hear my brother has talked to you.”

“He has,” Ramal said, raising an eyebrow. “Is this when you tell me that I shouldn’t hurt him?”

Xisuma let out a short laugh, but when he spoke it was serious. “No actually. Ex can take care of himself. It’s others you should be more afraid of. I don’t think being Tango’s friend would save you from Zedaph.”

“Then what’s the matter?” Ramal tilted his head in confusion.

Xisuma looked up towards the cottage, considering it for a moment before he looked back at Ramal.

“My brother doesn’t love easily,” he said finally. “I don’t want to say too much, because I don’t know how much he has told you, but he never had reason to learn how when we grew up. I don’t think I have seen him love anyone as easily as he loves you. And I just want to say that I wish you both only the best. I’m glad to see my brother happy. And I want you to know that whatever your future together looks like, you will have a place here as long as you want it.”

“I…thank you,” Ramal said. “I will remember that.”

Xisuma smiled. “You should probably go now. I’m sure my brother is already getting anxious.”

Ramal nodded with a laugh. “I’ll better not let him wait.”

“Probably,” Xisuma agreed

And before Ramal could say anything else, Xisuma pulled him into a hug.

“Welcome to the family,” he said, and then he had already turned to walk back down the path, leaving Ramal look after him in surprise.

He ducked his head to hide the smile playing around his lips before he turned as well and began the walk up the hill.

Ex was already waiting for him when he reached the door, giving him a curious look.

“What did Xisuma want?” he asked.

“Nothing much,” Ramal said, stepping in and pulling Ex’s head down to kiss him. “He just wanted to welcome me to the family.”

Ex smiled and when he leaned back against the door frame he pulled Ramal along with him, until they were both standing in the door, Ramal in Ex’s arms, and Ex pulling him in the rest of the way so he could kiss him again.

And as he responded to the kiss with just as much eagerness as Ex put into it, Ramal knew that he truly was home.

It had been almost three weeks since Impulse had first regained consciousness. He had been slowly gaining his strength back, and he started to get a little anxious about leaving.

He had moved what few belongings the she-wolf had somehow known to scavenge from the abandoned houses of the nearby village into the remains of his childhood home. It didn’t provide much more protection than the clearing had, but he felt a little safer surrounded by the crumbling walls when he slept. He had found a corner where a bit of the roof remained, and it was stable enough for him to sleep under. There was enough dry wood around so he could make a fire, and after a few days of eating berries and scavenging what other food he could find in the overgrown garden, he had been able to stomach other foods again. The wolves had been happy to leave a share of their prey for him to cook over his fire, and he had found enough supplies for a makeshift trap among the rubble, which he had used to catch a few rabbits here and there. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough for him to regain his strength. The she-wolf seemed to realise that he would be leaving eventually, because she had started to take the pups along with her when she went out hunting, and through his connection with them Impulse knew that she was teaching them as much as she could before they left.

It had taken him a while to realise why she seemed so familiar. The last time he had seen her she had been younger, barely grown even. He remembered the way she had helped the rest of the pack to take care of him after his mother died. She and the other younger wolves had often slept by his side, providing comfort and warmth to him, and sometimes pushing him to eat whatever the pack had hunted down for food.

His returning magic had meant that he had been able to communicate with her, and he had been a little sad to find out that the pack had moved on, looking for better hunting grounds, while she had stayed behind, driven by a gut feeling that told her she might be needed here in the forest where she had grown up and lived all her life. She didn’t want to accompany him and the pups she had found among the trees without parents to care for them. No, she would stay behind and try to find her own family again, following their trek out east where they hoped to find better prey. Impulse could only hope that she would find them.

The games of the pups had meanwhile started to take on a new meaning. It had taken Impulse a bit of observation to figure it out, but he had realised that they had started to work out a pecking order amongst themselves. In the beginning he hadn’t quite been able to determine who was going to come out on top, but it had become clear by now that Tango was the one most of her siblings looked to for direction, followed by Kaya. It wasn’t all that surprising he guessed, Tango and Kaya had been the most courageous and curious ones out of the nine pups, and they had taken easiest to their bond with him, while Flip and Chacha were the ones who had held themselves back the most.

When he had felt strong enough to start preparing for his journey he had even made the walk to the village. It had been a weird experience. The last time he had seen it, it had been full of people going about their daily business, children playing in the streets, the sounds of farm animals all around. But now the houses stood empty. From the looks of it the villagers had had time to pack up their things and leave, and there wasn’t much left for him to find. What little had been left behind had largely been a victim to time and nature, a musty blanket here, a rusty blunt knife there; but there were some smaller things that would come in handy, he thought.

Most importantly though, some digging behind the mill had drudged up some coins. Impulse wasn’t sure how much the people of the village had known, but he had barely been old enough to understand what was going on, and definitely too young to be out at night, when he had found out that the miller received secret grain shipments at night. He had watched him once as he had hidden the payments for his secret work in a corner of the garden, and it had been a bit of a shot in the dark, but he had hoped that at least some coins were still left there.

It had been a relief to actually find them, because while Impulse wasn’t planning to make too much use of the roads and to avoid settlements where he could, if only because it would be hard to find lodging with nine wolves, however young, in tow, it was always good to have some emergency funds at least.

It took him a few days to gather supplies and to improvise some of the things he couldn’t find, but then he was finally ready.

He had found an old backpack at the village. It was broken but he had been able to repair it, and it would be enough to hold everything he wanted to take with him. And there was just enough space for him to add two books.

He had been surprised when he had found them in the remains of his childhood home. He had thought all of his mother’s books had burned along with her, but these two looked like the fire had barely touched them. One of them was handwritten, the careful loops of his mother’s handwriting painfully familiar even after all these years. He had seen her use it so often, looking up potions or writing out new recipes she had found. The other was a printed copy of an older book. He remembered reading it when he had been younger, the explanations of witch magic and its basics written just easy enough that he could understand them.

The books were dead weight and he should probably leave them behind, but he couldn’t make himself do it. He already had so little left of his mother, he would not leave these behind as well.

And then finally the day was there. He had packed everything he wanted to take with him; had made sure to hide as much of his tracks in the clearing as possible, and after a last night of sleep, the excitement of the pups making it hard to actually fall asleep, he knelt down in front of the she-wolf.

“Thank you for everything,” he said, as he wrapped his arms around her.

She huffed in reply, clearly not feeling as sentimental about the goodbye as he did, and gently pushed him away with her snout.

Impulse laughed. “Alright. I’ll go. I hope you will find your family.”

She huffed again, and he got up, ready to go. But before he could turn away the pups moved past him, all of them butting their heads against the she-wolf’s, their own way of saying goodbye to her. It didn’t take long, and when they were done it was her who turned around decisively, walking a few steps before she got faster and finally hit the edge of the clearing running, disappearing into the trees with a last push of her hind legs.

Impulse watched her go with a smile, focusing his mind on her, and sending a little magic out her way. Not much of it, just enough to give her strength for a while so she could try to catch up to her pack.

Finally he looked down at the pups, Tango sitting closest to his feet and watching him expectantly. He adjusted his pack on his back.

“Let’s go then,” he said. “We’ve got our own family to find.”

And with a last look around the clearing he turned west and walked away, the nine wolves right at his heels.


	14. We Wander Back To Home And Bed

If his second journey to Snefjella taught Impulse anything it was how much he preferred horse travel. He had had to walk all the way, and keeping away from roads and settlements hadn’t helped speed it up. He had been able to stay in the forest for most of the way up to the Snefjellan border, but for the last days he had to wander across open land. He considered briefly to travel at night instead of broad daylight, but quickly dismissed the idea. At the end of the day, it would be far less suspicious to travel with the wolves in tow in the daylight than it would be to do it at night.

As he drew closer to the border he started worrying about how to cross it. He had no papers on him, nothing to prove his identity to the border guards.

And he didn't like his options, but his best guess was to follow the border for a bit and slip across between guard posts in the night. It didn't sit comfortable with him, but without a way to prove his identity and why he wanted to enter Snefjella he didn't really know what else to do.

Then somehow luck was on his side. He had decided to follow the road for the last bit and led him within viewing and shouting distance of the border post before it turned south. It was a calm day with little traffic. He could see the guards from afar, looking a little bored and idly talking, but only when he was about to follow the turn of the road to go south, and one of the guards shouted a "hey" at him, did he realise that they seemed familiar.

The one who had hailed him gestured for him to come closer, and when he approached he realised that he had been at the border post in the south when they had crossed over from Finis.

"You were with Master Tango when he returned from down South two months ago, weren't you?" the guard asked.

"Yes, I was," Impulse said, trying to hide his surprise that he was being recognised.

"You on your way back to the Hermitlands?"

"I...yes," Impulse said, hoping it would be enough for the guard.

But it didn't even seem to occur to either of them to ask him to prove who he was, because the other guard perked up a little and asked, "Is there anything new on that fire? You and Master Tango must have passed it on your travels."

Impulse had no idea what he was talking about, but the timing fit too well to be coincidence. He wished he could ask, but his ignorance would probably give him away.

"We're working on it," he said, a little vaguely.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"We'll do our best," Impulse said with a smile, ignoring the pang of guilt at the lie.

"Go on then," the first guard said, waving him through. "You still have a ways to go. And all on foot."

"Thank you." Impulse nodded as he finally stepped onto Snefjellan soil. He started walking away from the guard post, hoping the guards wouldn't remember to ask for any more identification, but the first guard called after him.

"I never asked your name."

Impulse turned around and smiled. "It's Impulse."

The guard nodded. "Welcome home, Master Impulse. Have a safe rest of the journey."

"Thank you."

And with that Impulse was off the hook, and wolves at his heels he started the last leg of his travels.

He found out what the border guards had meant by the fire when he reached the last place he had seen Tango. He swallowed as he looked at what was left of the campsite. If he had had to guess he would have said that it hadn't happened more than a week before, but he knew that it had been two months. And while the plants around had grown and were tinted in a vibrant green, they surrounded a circle of charred black earth. Tango let out a short bark and when Impulse looked up he saw a woman emerge from the trees. He didn't know how but somehow he knew that she was a witch, the black cat in her arms her familiar.

She looked a little surprised, as if she hadn't expected to see him, and with a quick movement of her hand she pitched a paper at him.

"You're alive." It said.

"I am," Impulse said. "Why...why wouldn't I be?"

"Too much magic. It should have burned you."

She frowned, but then she shook her head and gestured at him to follow her, before turning around and walking back into the forest.

Impulse exchanged a look with Tango, but then he shrugged. It was best to follow. Maybe she could tell him something about what had happened.

She led him to a house hidden deeper into the forest, and after telling him to sit down she busied herself making tea and filling a bowl with stew from the small cauldron that sat in the fireplace, before she disappeared into a small room to the side and came out with some fresh meat that she cut into smaller pieces for the wolves.

Then she sat down across from him and watched while he ate, clearly making sure that he finished his entire bowl.

"What happened?" he asked, when he was done and had pushed the empty bowl away.

She gave him a curious look, tilting her head a little, and Impulse shrugged.

"I don't remember anything," he said. "I fell asleep in his arms and the next thing I remember was waking up somewhere else."

The witch frowned, and scratched her nose, looking like she was thinking.

Another note fluttered to the table in front of him.

"Don't know what it means."

She seemed as puzzled by it as he was. But then shook her head decisively.

"They think you're dead." Her next note says. "I'll get you home. But you must learn."

"Thank you," he said, honestly. "And I know."

She considered him for a moment and then.

"I will teach you."

"Thank you," he said, again. "I...I really appreciate that."

She waved his thanks away and picked up his bowl to get him more stew, levelling him with a look that told him he better not argue with her right now. And so he accepted his fate and dug in, only then realising that he was still hungry.

Zed leaned a bit more into Wels while he took another sip of his ale and surveyed the Hermits around them. It was a quiet get-together by their standards but they had all felt like it had been too long since they had sat together for dinner and to just talk. Stress and False had come and even though he had bowed out early, even Tango had come. His smile was still duller than usual, never quite reaching his eyes, but he had tried at least, and that made Zed happier than anything.

Right now he was just content to sit here with Wels, watching their friends while Wels was talking to Jevin.

Doc had taken over the grilling of the meat, looking far more than his old self than he had in months, and bickering lightly with Ren. Off to the side somewhere Zed could see Ex and Ramal talk to Mumbo. Ex had gotten downright touchy over the past few weeks, and even now his arm was around Ramal.

Zed had just spotted Xisuma talking to Cub, Scar and TFC when a black raven landed on the fence behind Xisuma.

He watched as Xisuma excused himself and approached the raven, accepting whatever message it offered to him. He frowned as he read, before his eyes widened in surprise. He said something to the raven and it flew away again.

No one but Zed had noticed the interaction and now he was the only one watching as Xisuma turned back to the group and looked at them for a moment, giving the group a considering look before he squared his shoulders and stepped into the middle. The effect was immediate. A hush fell over the group as all conversations died down immediately and they all turned to Xisuma.

"I just got a message from Gertrude," he said. "She says she has found Impulse."

There was a beat before everyone started talking at once, but Xisuma shushed them with a gesture of his hand.

"That's all she's written. She said she'd bring him to Kell's tomorrow."

Ramal exchanged a look with Ex before he stepped forward.

"I'll go," he said. "I know Impulse better than anyone here save Tango."

Xisuma nodded, and before Zed could do it himself Wels had stepped forward as well.

"We'll accompany you."

Ramal inclined his head in agreement and Zed reached out to squeeze Wels' hand quickly in thanks.

"What will we tell Tango?" Zed asked. "I'm sure he will want to know."

"He might not want to believe you," Doc said quietly. "Tell him tomorrow when they've left. But respect if he doesn't want to hear it. He's hurting, he will probably not want to get his hopes up."

"I'll talk to him," Xisuma promised.

Wels nodded. "If we ride through the night we could be back by tomorrow evening," he said. "It's not ideal, but I think we all agree that the earlier we can make sure the better."

"You know the roads as best as anyone could. If you say it's possible, I trust you."

"We better get going then," Zed said, and the other two nodded.

Everyone seemed to spring into action at once, Ramal turned to Ex to say something, while Doc eyed the meat on the grill and gestured at Ren who quickly grabbed some of the bread rolls.

"You get the horses?" Wels asked.

Zed nodded. "Remember to give Clifford his water."

Wels smiled "I'd never forget." He leaned in and gave Zed a quick kiss before he headed off towards the farm, joined by Ex.

Ramal fell into step next to Zed, as he headed towards the castle.

"We'll have to bring Ghast as well," he said.

Zed nodded. "I'm sure she'll be happy to hear Impulse is alive."

"Do you think she'd agree to carry me? I think it would be easier to have three horses. I'll set my horse free, she'll be there when I call her."

Zed gave him a curious look but he shrugged. "I'll ask her."

"Thank you."

The stables were dark and almost silent when they entered and Zed quickly took the small lantern that hung right outside the door, hoping they wouldn't wake more of the horses than they needed to.

He got Ghast first, since she and Blaze were closest to the door, while Ramal woke his own horse and carefully led her out into the courtyard. Ghast was sleepy but the moment Zed told her they had found Impulse she seemed wide awake and followed without complaint. She agreed to carry Ramal after trying to nibble at his sleeve, and Zed breathed a sigh of relief. Much like Tango she had still been grieving, and Zed had started to get a little worried about her. He left her with Ramal now, who barely got far enough away from her to fetch her saddle and bridle, and went back inside the stable.

Charger and Apple were further back, and Charger especially didn't appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night. He needed a bit of convincing but Zed was used to his temper and after he bribed him with a carrot he agreed to move.

He and Ramal worked quickly to get the horses ready, only interrupted by Ren, who brought them food for the road. By the time Wels joined them Ramal was just coming back through the gate, Ex by his side and his horse gone, left to roam freely.

Zed made sure everything was safely secured in the appropriate places while Wels went to fetch his sword from the armoury, and soon enough Zed let Apple follow Charger out through the gate and into the night.

Impulse had spent the night curled up on the floor by the fireplace, surrounded by his wolves. The witch woke him early and sternly put some breakfast on the table before him that he ate with bleary eyes.

He realised that he still had no idea what her name was. She had never offered it, and he hadn't thought to ask.

But before he could formulate the question in his mind she gently placed a note on the table and pushed it over to him.

"Gertrude"

"Oh," he said. "I'm Impulse."

She nodded and tilted her head, considering him for a moment before pushing another note across the table.

"Walpurga's boy"

He gave her a surprised look.

"You knew my mother?"

Gertrude shrugged.

"It was long ago. We learned together for a while."

"Did you...did you hear what happened?"

She nodded and her next note came with a sad smile. "I would have come to find you but I learned too late."

"It's okay. I made do on my own. Stayed with the wolves for a while and then I went south, as far away as I thought to go. I lived in the desert until Tango found me and I agreed to come here."

"You've come far."

"I have to go further still." He gave her a crooked smile.

She nodded, and then after a look outside she got up.

"We should go soon. It's still a bit of a walk."

Impulse didn't take long to pack up what little things he had taken from his pack the night before, and it wasn't long before they stepped outside and Gertrude set off in a North-western direction. They walked in silence most of the way, but Gertrude passed him the occasional note as she pointed out plants along the way and what they could be used for. It seemed that after she had made the decision to teach him she had also decided to start immediately. It was a lot to take in, even though he already knew some of it, but it passed the time, and soon Impulse found himself asking questions.

They reached the edge of the forest by mid-morning and after following the river for a few minutes they passed through a fort and Gertrude directed her steps up a small hill to an inn.

The main room was fairly quiet this early into the day. The innkeeper looked surprised to see them but shrugged, and only said, "Same as always, Gertrude?"

Gertrude nodded, and gestured at Impulse.

"Yeah, I'll get him something to eat, don't worry." The innkeeper chuckled and turned away as Gertrude led Impulse to a table across from the door and they sat down.

Impulse had seen quite a bit of Snefjella already but he had not realised that the friendliness of the people extended to witches as well, but here they were and Gertrude was welcomed like a regular guest.

She smiled gently at his evident surprise.

'You and your mother had bad luck. Some people don't hate us.'

"I'm starting to realise that," he said quietly.

She smiled again and reached out to squeeze his hand.

But before he could say more the innkeeper set down two mugs of water and a plate of food on the table.

"There you go. It's still early so I got you breakfast instead of lunch," he said.

"Thank you," Impulse said honestly, and the innkeeper smiled and shrugged.

"I don't know where she found you, but you look like you need it."

Impulse shrugged. "I've been on the road for a while."

"Well I hope you'll reach wherever you're going soon."

And with that the innkeeper left and Impulse dug into the food under Gertrude's stern look.

He didn't know how long they had been at the inn when the door opened and three people walked in, but it had been long enough for him to finish eating.

The first one to come in was a man about Impulse's height with blonde hair and kind purple eyes. He looked around the room with interest but got distracted by the man behind him, slightly taller and broader in build. He held himself like a soldier, and by his side hung a sword with an eye-catching red stone set into the pommel. He was blond, too but with kind blue eyes that looked fondly at the first man.

But the third one was the one Impulse honed in on. He was the tallest of the three, and his hair had darkened since Impulse had seen him the last time, but the colour of his eyes was striking even know, the amber almost yellow. It was he who spotted Impulse first, and he watched as a relieved smile passed over his face.

Ramal nudged the elbow of one of his companions and nodded towards Impulse, the two following him as he walked over to them.

Impulse was out of his seat by the time they had reached the table, and Ramal immediately pulled him into a tight hug.

"It's so good to see you," Ramal said. "We thought you lost."

Impulse hugged him back just as tight.

"I came back as fast as I could." Impulse swallowed as he released Ramal. "How...how is he doing?"

Ramal bit his lip, but before he could say anything the smaller of his companions said, "Better...let's say he's doing better."

He gave Impulse a friendly smile. "I'm Zedaph. This is Wels. Xisuma sent us to pick you up."

"I...it's good to finally meet you." Impulse returned the smile.

"Let's sit down."

Impulse found himself nodding and quickly sat back down, Ramal next to him, Wels and Zedaph sitting down with Gertrude who watched them with a fond smile.

"Xisuma sends his thanks," Wels said to her and she inclined her head in acknowledgement.

"Something to eat would be nice, Kell," Wels said. "And some more water, please."

"Coming right up, Captain."

"Not Captain anymore." Wels chuckled.

Kell laughed. "Sorry, old habits die hard, you know?" he said with a shrug. "I'll be right back."

As soon as he had left Zedaph turned to Impulse. "So, I hope you're up for some more travel today. Wels says we can make it back by the evening, and everyone is excited to meet you."

"Sure," Impulse said, a bit taken aback.

"Great!"

And Impulse had thought a lot about what it would be like to meet the Hermits, but he had never thought that it would be so...easy. Zedaph seemed genuinely happy to meet him, and there was something really welcoming about him, as if Impulse had known him for longer than a few minutes. He almost felt at home already.

"Tango will be glad to see you," Ramal said quietly.

"How has he been?" Impulse asked. "I...I felt him, so I knew he was alive but...it felt weird."

Ramal gave him a surprised look but then he said, "It felt like a volcano and was bright like the sun." He sounded like he was quoting someone, and it was Impulse's turn to give him a surprised look.

"That's how Ex described it to me," Ramal said with a shrug.

Impulse considered him for a moment, there was something different about him, and that mention of Ex made it more obvious. His expression had softened a little, grown almost fond, the colour of his eyes shifting to something calm, like a sandstorm about to die down almost. It almost reminded him of the way Tango looked at him sometimes.

"You and Ex, huh?" he said.

Ramal shrugged. "It took him a while to admit it to himself." And there was a story there, Impulse was sure, but he wouldn't pry. There was time to learn about it.

Before Ramal could say anything else Kell returned with food, putting another plate down in front of Impulse.

He was about to protest that he had already eaten when Gertrude whacked him with a rolled up piece of paper and levelled him with a stern look. He rolled his eyes at her much to the silent amusement of the others before he tucked in. It wasn't like he was going to get out of it anyways.

Tango was in his kitchen when there was a knock on the door. He called for whoever it was to come in, fully expecting it to be Ramal or maybe Zed, but when he turned around, a cup of coffee in his hand he was surprised to see Xisuma walk in.

"Morning, X," he said, setting down the mug again. "What brings you here?"

"Good morning. How are you?"

Tango made a non-committal gesture with his hand. There were good days and there were bad days, he wouldn't know until well into his day. He guessed it was a good sign that he had gotten out of bed, but he also had been too restless to lie there. Something had been tugging at his mind, telling him to get up.

Xisuma nodded, as if he understood. He probably did, if Tango thought about it; in some way at least. Tango had joint shortly after Keralis had left, and he had still witnessed Xisuma in those earlier days, worrying all of them with the way he had seemed to go silent and withdrawn some days. It had taken him a while to recover from that.

Xisuma cleared his throat and said, "There is actually something I need to tell you. You might want to sit down."

Tango swallowed, but he followed his advice, sitting opposite of Xisuma at the table.

"What's the matter?" He asked, trying not to show how nervous Xisuma's words had made him.

"I received a message last night after you left. It was from Gertrude." Xisuma paused and took a deep breath. "She has found Impulse."

Tango's breath caught in his throat, and he had to swallow again. When he spoke his voice came out as a whisper.

"Don't...don't give me hope, X. I couldn't take it."

"He's alive," Xisuma said gently. "Zed and Wels left with Ramal last night to meet them at Kell's inn and to bring him here."

Tango closed his eyes and took a ragged breath.

"Are you….are you sure?"

"She didn't put any details in her message. But I trust Gertrude."

“I know she wouldn’t… just…” Tango buried his head in his hands, trying to hold back his emotions.

He was torn, everything in him screamed to believe in Xisuma’s words; to believe that Impulse was alive and well and that he would get to hold him in his arm again soon. But there was also a part of him that didn’t trust the hope; that was just so sure that Impulse was dead, and that shied away from the potential of being hurt. He could hear Xisuma get up, and a moment later there was a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently.

“It’s going to be alright, Tango,” Xisuma said. “Wels said they’d be back this evening. You won’t have to wonder for long.”

Tango only nodded, still unable to look up again, and Xisuma squeezed his shoulder again.

“I’ll leave you to it now. But if you need someone to talk to you know any of us will be there for you.”

Another nod, and then the hand was gone. Before he was out of the door though, Tango looked up and said, “Thank you for telling me, X.”

Xisuma smiled. “Of course, Tango,” he said, before he turned and left.

Tango wasn’t sure how long he sat there, his coffee slowly going cold where he left it, but in the end he got up and after dumping the cold coffee, he put on his boots and left the house. He turned in the direction of TFC’s mine. He needed to take his mind of things, and a couple of hours of helping TFC in whatever way he could sounded just like what would help him with that.

They left shortly after finishing their food. According to Wels they still had enough time to get to the Hermitage by nightfall, even if they encountered any obstacles on the road.

Impulse was a little surprised when he followed the others outside while Wels paid, and found Ghast standing with two horses, one of them a large war horse that he assumed belonged to Wels, the other smaller, but sturdy, quite obviously bred for a life in the mountains. Ramal excused himself to call his own horse, while Impulse let Ghast sniff his hand. She whinnied, and he gently ran a hand along her neck.

“It’s good to see you, too,” he said. “I missed you.”

She whinnied again and he gently wrapped his arms around her neck in a hug.

“She grieved for you,” Zedaph said quietly. “It took me a while to convince her to even eat again.”

There was something sad in his eyes when Impulse looked at him, and he swallowed.

“Thank you for taking care of her,” he said earnestly.

“I couldn’t let her waste away like that.” Zedaph smiled at him.

Impulse nodded but before he could say anything Ramal came back, his horse walking behind him, and Wels stepped out of the inn.

Wels looked around, and considered the pack of young wolves that sat at Impulse’s feet for a moment before he said, “We might want to split the wolves between us and have them ride with us if you think they will stay on horseback. We’ll be faster that way.”

Impulse looked down at the pack, trying to figure out how to best split them up, but before he had even made a decision they were already moving, splitting up until only Tango and Kaya remained with Impulse, Tango radiating smugness. Wels blinked in surprise but he took off his cloak and carefully wrapped the two in it so he would be able to hold on to them while riding.

While the other two followed suit, Zedaph already talking to Skizz and Phantom, Impulse approached Gertrude who was standing by the door to the tavern, watching them.

“Thank you for everything,” he said, and she smiled at him. “I’ll see that I come back soon to learn.”

Gertrude nodded. She reached out, gently putting a hand on his cheek and pressing a note into his hands.

‘Your mother would be proud.’

“You think so?” He had to swallow.

‘I know.’

She let go of him, and he quickly stepped in and hugged her. It took her a moment, but then she wrapped her arms around him and returned the hug.

“I’ll see you soon,” he promised.

Soon they were all up on their horses; Wels, Zedaph and Impulse holding two wolves each, while Ramal held onto the remaining three, and with a last wave at Gertrude they left the inn and directed their horses onto the road towards the mountains.

They reached the Hermitage shortly after nightfall. The castle they approached was a shadow against the night sky, a few of its windows lit up by warm light. He thought he saw a shadow move above the gate but before he could make sure he saw right they had passed through the gate and into the courtyard behind.

They had barely gotten the wolves released after getting of their horses when a tall figure stepped into the courtyard.

It was only when he spoke up that Impulse realised that this was Ex without his helmet, and looking far more relaxed than the first time he had met him.

“It’s good to see you again,” Ex said, smiling at Impulse.

“Thank you. It’s good to finally get here.”

“Everyone is excited to meet you, but… I get it if you would prefer to wait with the introductions until tomorrow. I can bring you to Tango’s place once your horse is taken care of. He’s waiting for you.”

Impulse nodded. “It’s…that would be nice. Is he okay?”

“He will be, I think.” Ex reached out and squeezed Impulse’s shoulder. “Take care of Ghast, I’ll bring you to him right after.”

With another nod Impulse turned back to Ghast and methodically started to take off her bridle and her saddle, while Ex walked over to Ramal, who pulled him in for a quick kiss, a soft smile on his face.

Impulse worked quickly, and with some help from Zedaph who showed him where to put what, he put away Ghast’s things and got her back into her box.

It was agreed that Zedaph and Wels would tell the others, while Ex and Ramal led Impulse to Tango’s house, and by the time they left the lower courtyard, Impulse could feel his excitement grow.

He could feel Tango again, that flame in his mind, flickering nervously right now, and Impulse barely had to concentrate to reach out for it to try and soothe it.

He had no eyes for his surroundings, he would still have time to see them in daylight, but with Tango’s flame to guide him it was easy to pick out which of the buildings that were strewn about the valley was Tango’s home. He hadn’t quite reached the door yet when it flew open and Tango stood in front of him again.

For a moment he looked like he didn’t know what to do, but then Impulse stepped forward, and the next thing he knew was that Tango’s arms were wrapped tightly around him, and that Tango was quietly sobbing into his shoulder.

Impulse held him just as tight, and just like that everything around them was forgotten. All that counted was that they together again.

Tango tried to get his sobs under control again, but Impulse gently guided him back inside and closed the door as soon as the wolves had followed suit.

“Where to?” Impulse asked, and Tango just about managed to take his hand and show him the way up the stairs and into the bedroom. He let go just long enough for Impulse to put down his pack and take off his boots and dress down to his shirt, but then he already pulled him in again.

Impulse had to smile. He pushed Tango until their knees touched the bed, and then they tumbled down onto it, still completely wrapped up in each other.

It took Tango another few moments before he started speaking and even then it was barely coherent.

Impulse kissed his temple, and whispered reassurances in return, all the “I’m really here”-s and the “I won’t leave”-s and the “I love you”-s.

Only when Tango had managed to calm down did Impulse lean ever so slightly away so he could see Tango’s face before he took it in both of his hands and kissed him.

His memories didn’t nearly do it justice. Tango kissed back almost desperately, like a man reaching an oasis after being stuck in the desert for who knew how long, and Impulse matched him with his own desperation. It didn’t take much to tilt his head and deepen the kiss, but that was as far as they were both willing to take it. Impulse melted into it, and he could feel Tango do the same in his arms. It was as if the world was finally right again after the months of being apart.

Tango woke up, his limbs entangled with Impulse’s to the point where he wasn’t quite sure which of them belonged to himself and which didn’t. Impulse was still fast asleep, and Tango was happy to let him. He looked thinner than the last time he had seen him, whatever had happened and wherever he had been it had taken a toll on him. But they had time now. Impulse could rest up now.

He felt a tug at the edge of the blankets where they hung off the bed behind him, and a moment later the bed dipped under a new weight, followed by a cold snout and then one of the pups that had been with Impulse the night before climbed on top of them.

Impulse stirred and murmured, "Kaya, no" but he didn't wake fully, and Tango extracted himself from their tangle of limbs just enough that he could sit up a little, leaning against the headboard. He scooped up the pup who looked at him with curious eyes, and placed her in his lap, gently petting her while they waited for Impulse to wake up.

It didn't take much longer, until he finally opened his eyes, blinking sleepily at Tango.

"Good morning," Tango said softly, reaching out to run his free hand through Impulse's hair and cupping his jaw.

Impulse smiled fondly before he said, "Good morning."

His eyes wandered to Kaya, and he let out a soft laugh. "She likes you." He was silent for a moment, concentrating on something, before he added, "The others do, too. But she likes you best."

"You can tell?"

"Yes. They're...they're my familiars."

"All nine of them?"

Impulse nodded. "All nine of them."

"Oh. That...seems like a lot."

Impulse shrugged. "I think it has something to do with how much magic I had stored up."

"Oh."

"I'll...I think I know what happened. Or part of it at least."

Tango ran a thumb along his cheekbone, content he got to touch Impulse again.

"Let's have breakfast first. We can get everyone together and you can explain."

"Yes," Impulse said. "That might be for the best."

He sat up and leaned in to press their lips together.

"I missed you," he said. "I felt you for a moment after I first woke up, so I knew you were alive, but then I couldn't anymore and I just had that to help me get here."

"I...I'm glad you had that at least."

"Gertrude told me you thought I was dead. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I don't know what I would have done."

"It was hard. But it's in the past. You're here now; that's all that counts."

Impulse smiled and Tango leaned in for another kiss, his heart singing because Impulse was back with him.

A few hours later everyone was assembled around the big table at the castle. They only used it for special occasions, meetings that needed everyone to be present or big dinners in winter when it was too cold to sit outside.

Xisuma sat at one end of the table, with Ex at his right side. The others had more or less picked their usual spots after they had gotten all the introductions out of the way, Tango immediately migrating to the seat opposite of Stress, about half-way down the table. Zed had moved from his usual spot next to him to make room for Impulse, and next to Ex Doc had made room for Ramal to Tango’s surprise. He hadn’t thought about how Ramal fit in with the others if he was honest, but he hadn’t expected him immediately sitting down next to Ex. No one seemed surprised by it either so Tango pushed it to the back of his mind, deciding to ask Ramal about it later.

“Impulse thinks he may be able to shed some light on what happened with him and Tango,” Xisuma said. “I’ll leave the talking to you, Impulse. We’ve all been wondering what happened.”

Impulse nodded, and took a deep breath.

“I don’t know how much Tango has told you,” he said, “But I’m a witch.”

Tango could see Ramal work it out much like he had all those weeks ago.

“Potion brewing. You said you studied it,” he said.

Impulse nodded. “Yes. My mother taught me some of it when I was younger, before she died. But I was never fully educated, and her death…it wasn’t a nice one.” He paused, and Tango reached out to squeeze his hand. He remembered how hard it had been for him to talk about this the first time, and he could hear the emotion in his voice as he talked about it now. Impulse shot him a quick smile before he took another deep breath and continued.

“After her death I… I was traumatised, and I locked away my magic along with every memory of her that I had.”

There was a pause before Scar said quietly, “But magic needs an outlet or it builds up.”

“Yes,” Impulse agreed. “Gertrude says I’m one of the most powerful witches she’s ever seen, but she wasn’t sure if it’s because I still haven’t depleted the reserves I had or if it’s all new. Either way the build-up must have been massive.

“What Gertrude and I think happened was that my mental walls held the magic back but when I started thinking about my mother again, they got weak enough for the magic to seep through until it was all too much, and what was left broke, leaving all the magic to be released at once. It must have burned through the life forces in that clearing, before it looked for a new outlet, and transported me away. We’re not sure how, and Gertrude says she has never seen something like this, but it latched onto my memories and when I woke up I was back in the place where I grew up.”

There was a moment of silence before Ex said, “That explains what happened with you. But what happened to Tango?”

“It’s the soulbond,” Ramal said.

“I mean we were wondering how that came to be, but how does that explain it?”

“I think I know what you’re getting at, Ramal,” Cub said. He looked around at the expectant faces of the other Hermits and shrugged.

“Every being has the potential to form a soulbond,” he explained. “But a soulbond needs a lot of inherent magic. We all know Tango didn’t show any signs of magic before he met Impulse so logically their soulbond should never have formed. But if Impulse had enough magic stored up, it might have latched onto the potential soulbond that was already there, and slowly but surely solidified it from his end. Maybe that’s why you never realised how much of it had built up, Impulse. Because the magic did have an outlet in the soulbond, maybe the mental walls as well, so it was stopped from overflowing. But once the soulbond was fully formed and you started to take down the mental walls, it had nowhere to go.”

“You said you didn’t remember what happened, right Tango?” Doc said all of a sudden, his face thoughtful.

“Yes,” Tango said, frowning. “I remember lying down. And…pain. There was pain. After that it’s just bits and pieces of Blaze carrying me to Kell’s.”

“And Wels, Zed and Ex picked you up from there the next day, yes?”

“We did,” Wels said. “Though we didn’t leave till the day after. Tango was under shock, but he seemed aware of his surroundings.”

Tango nodded. “I remember the way home from Kell’s.”

“And the next morning Cub sent me to get Xisuma and Ex because Tango had gotten feverish over night and we had no idea what we were dealing with,” Scar added.

“What if some of the magic was released through the soulbond?” Doc asked.

“But wouldn’t that mean Tango would have lost it again eventually?” Ex asked.

They were all silent for a moment before Impulse said, “Witch magic works with the world around it. It can affect life forces, heighten the effects of plants for potions, communicate with animals to some extent. Maybe it found something to work with, and enhanced it.”

“You think it could do that?” Cub asked.

“I don’t know for sure. I’d have to talk to Gertrude about it. She knows more about witch magic than I do,” Impulse said with a shrug. “But it’s the best theory I have right now.”

“It could explain why you felt Tango in the beginning,” Ramal said. “If your magic was connected to his it would make sense for you to feel it.”

“Probably,” Impulse agreed.

But before they could keep theorising, Stress spoke up, her tone gentle. “Boys, I don’t fink you’ll solve this right now. And I’m sure Impulse and Tango have a lot to catch up on. Let’s call it a meeting for now and you can get back to your theories tomorrow.”

There were chuckles all around the table.

“You heard her. Let’s all get going with our days. There’s time to theorise later,” Xisuma said, a fond smile playing around his lips.

They all got up, some splitting off into groups, and Tango took Impulse’s hand in his and smiled at him.

“Stress is right,” he said. “We do have a lot to catch up on.”

Impulse gave him a soft smile. “We do.”

Tango was about to lean in to press a chaste kiss to his lips when someone gently hit the back of his head.

False was standing next to them, looking amused. “Get a room,” she said, barely able to suppress a laugh.

Tango raised his hands in a placating gesture. “We’re going. We’re going.”

False laughed and Tango quickly took Impulse’s hand again and left the room with him in tow.

When he looked at him, he was smiling.

“It’s good to be home,” he said.


	15. Epilogue

Ramal found Ex sitting outside the cottage when he got up. He had his hands wrapped around a mug of tea and was staring out over the valley, deep in thought. Ramal sat down next to him with his own tea, and for a moment they just stayed like that in silence.

"What happens now?" Ex finally said quietly.

Ramal considered him for a moment before he replied, "Well, Tango still needs to learn a thing or two, so I guess I'll be staying around for now. And I think Impulse will have some learning to do of his own."

Ex looked at him, a little surprised.

"You're staying?"

Ramal smiled and reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily. He's getting close to learning how to fully control his magic, but he doesn't know how to use it, yet."

"But you will have to leave eventually. What will happen then?"

"You will still have me. We will still see each other as often as we can. If you want to I will show you my home. You can meet my mother. She will be thrilled."

"I would like that," Ex said quietly.

"Then we will do it. Everything else we can work out. We have made it work before, haven't we?"

Ex nodded, and Ramal wrapped his arm around him with a smile.

"I have been thinking about asking the queen to work a bit more closely with the Hermits," Ramal said after a moment. "We should now that Tango's status is reaffirmed. And who would be better for the task than the crown prince's best friend, trusted advisor to the queen?"

"You think she will agree to it?"

"I think she has been waiting for it for some time."

Ex leaned a bit more into him.

"I think my brother would be open to cooperating."

Ramal smiled and pressed a kiss to the side of Ex's head. "See? We will be fine. I know you are still anxious about either of us not doing their duty, but this way we are still doing that."

Ex leaned away and gave him a surprised look.

"You have really thought about this," he said, wonder clear in his voice.

"Of course I have. I know this is important to you. And it is important to me, too. I swore an oath, a long time ago, to support and protect my prince. I was told it was foolish at the time, and I was told so again when he left and there was no more prince to support. But I have always taken it seriously and I have always striven to fulfil that oath the best I could. And right now I think that entails helping you as well. You want to protect all of them, and that includes him."

Ex swallowed. "I do want to protect them. They're my family, all of them. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for them."

Ramal placed his mug down on the bench beside him before he took the one Ex held to put it down next to it, and pulled him up along with him. Ex gave him a questioning look, but Ramal didn't say anything.

He looked at him, steadily for a moment before he stepped close, taking his face into his hands and pressing their bodies together, and kissed him. Ex wrapped his arms around him, and a sigh escaped his lips as he leaned into it.

Ramal took it slow, savouring the way their lips slid together, until they were both out of breath and had to come up for air.

"What do you say, we leave the others to their day and go back to bed?" he asked.

Ex chuckled. "I'd say you are a terrible influence."

"I can live with that."

He leaned in for another quick kiss and then he took Ex's hand and pulled him back into the house, their mugs left forgotten on the bench.

Wels put down the letter and considered it for a moment. It was a couple of days old, but with everything that had happened he hadn't had the time to read it properly yet, and now he wasn't quite sure what to reply.

With a sigh he shook his head and got up. It would be best to talk to Zed about it, he was sure to have advice.

Zed was standing at the fence of the sheep pen, watching the herd graze, Clifford by his side. Wels wrapped his arms around him from behind, and pressed a kiss to his shoulder.

"What did it say?" Zed asked, shifting his weight so he could lean into Wels.

"My mother asks us to visit her on the country estate."

"Do you want to go?"

"I don't know," Wels said honestly. "I'd like to find back to normalcy again first. And she can't say if my father will be there."

Zed nodded and then he turned around, giving Wels a mischievous smile.

"When have we ever been normal around here? Before you know it someone will start new shenanigans."

Wels laughed. "And you won't have anything to do with it, I assume."

"Now why would I do that, Captain Wels? I'm just a simple shepherd."

Wels chuckled and leaned in to kiss him.

"I think we should visit your mother," Zed said after, turning serious again. "Even if we risk your father being there. It's not her fault that he is the way he is, and she loves you."

"I know," Wels said. "I just needed to hear it."

Zed smiled. "I know."

Wels gave him another quick kiss before he let go of him. “I better go reply to her letter."

Zed nodded, "Pass on my greetings to her."

"I will," Wels promised.

He went back to the house, but before he went inside he turned back, watching Zed as he bent down and said something to Clifford.

Wels smiled. Things were good.

Impulse woke to an empty bed. It took him a moment to orientate himself and remember where he was. Tango's bedroom here at the Hermitage looked so much like the one he had in the palace that for a moment Impulse thought that was where they were. But then he turned towards the other window and saw the mountains at the edge of the valley and he remembered that it hadn't all just been a dream.

With a sigh he reached out and touched the space where Tango had been wrapped around him. It was still warm so he hadn't been gone for too long.

For a moment he considered getting up, but a look out of the window told him that it was still early and the bed was comfortable, so he stayed where he was. A quick mental check on the pups told him that they were still asleep, curled in their pile downstairs, and with a smile he burrowed back into the blankets.

He heard the click of the door and soft steps and a moment later the mattress dipped under Tango's weight and he leaned over Impulse, a fond smile on his face.

"You awake?" he asked gently.

Impulse nodded, and Tango leaned in to press a kiss to his lips.

"The pups have their food already, so they shouldn't disturb us," he said when they parted. "We can sleep in as long as we want."

Impulse smiled. "Then we should make use of it," he said.

Tango slipped back underneath the covers, loosely wrapping an arm around Impulse, who immediately moved closer, leaning his head against Tango's chest.

He was happy to stay in bed all day if he was honest. It meant he could press close to Tango and touch him, could feel his heart beat in his chest and his breath ghost over his skin.

Once they had left the castle the day before Tango hadn't let go of him unless he really had to. They had gone back to the house and Impulse had properly introduced him to the pups, before Tango had properly shown him the house. They had spent a large portion of the afternoon sitting in the grass outside, Tango pointing out the other Hermits' houses and explaining who they belonged to. A few of them had stopped by when they walked past, but for the most part they had only waved from the path.

They had talked, had told each other what had happened since they had been forced apart. Tango had told him about his magic, how in the beginning it had felt a little like it was burning in his veins, until his control had gotten better and he got more used to it. Impulse told him about the ruins of his childhood home, the wolf that had taken care of him and the pups, and the empty remains of the village.

Tango had wondered out loud what was going on between Ramal and Ex and Impulse had laughed and told him to just ask them.

And as the sun had slowly started to dip closer to the horizon Zed had come by and asked if they were up for a celebration, and they had only exchanged a look before they both nodded in unison.

Zed had clapped his hands together excitedly and shortly after everyone had been gathered at Ren's house.

Impulse had felt right at home. It was like he had found the family he hadn't had since the death of his mother, maybe even more than that. He had more people to call family now than he had ever had before, and it was a new feeling, but it was exciting.

And now. Now he got to lie here with Tango and he could enjoy his day without having to worry. And sure they would have to get out into the world eventually, would have to go back to learning and figuring out how to live together, but that could wait until tomorrow.

Right now Impulse could slide an arm around Tango, feel his warm skin under his fingers, and he could stretch a little until he could kiss him.

Tango smiled into it, his lips moving gently against Impulse's. His hand came to rest at Impulse's hip as they both got lost in the sensation. It was Impulse who tilted his head and deepened the kiss, Tango's lips opening greedily under his, but it was Tango who pushed him onto his back and loomed over him, never breaking the kiss.

Impulse ran his hands over Tango's torso, feeling the muscles there, and up to his shoulders where they strained ever so slightly to hold up Tango's weight. He sighed into their kiss, content to be able to feel him like this again, before he pulled gently until Tango got the message and slowly lowered himself down until he was lying on top of Impulse.

He was kind of heavy but Impulse couldn't bring himself to mind it. He had two months of separation to make up for, there was no way he would lose out on anything right now.

And then Tango's hands started to wander and all thoughts faded away.

All that was left was the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it.  
> Honestly when I started this fic I never thought it would become all of...this.  
> And this wouldn't have been possible without the help and support of a lot of friends. You know who you are and I know I say it a lot but this truly wouldn't have been possible without y'all and I don't think I have the words to express how much I love all of you.  
> Also thank you so much to everyone who read and left kudos and commented! It has been a joy to see your comments in my inbox!
> 
> Now the fic may be over, and I will work on some other smaller projects next, but I have the outline for another part of this series already and I'm really excited about starting work on that.
> 
> And if you want to you can always follow me on [tumblr](https://abschaumno1.tumblr.com).


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